Free Jean P Sasson - [Princess 02] by Princess Sultana's Daughters (pdf)

remainder of her life would be that of a beautiful flower.
    Then my troubled daughter asked me the most difficult question of my life. "Mother, how can I ever love a man, knowing all that I know of their nature?"
    I had no ready answer, yet it was with profound happiness that I understood that Kareem and I had another chance with our daughter.
    It was time to go home to Riyadh.
    We did not leave before Kareem offered Maha's British physician a position in Riyadh as our family's personal doctor.
    Much to our amazement, the physician refused. "Thank you," he said. "I am honored. Fortunately, or unfortunately, whichever is the case, my aesthetic sensibilities are too keen for Saudi Arabia."
    Undaunted, Kareem insisted upon rewarding the doctor with a large sum of cash. He even went so far as to try to put the money into the man's hand.
    Maha's physician firmly waved aside the offer, uttering words that would have been a keen insult had they not been spoken softly. "My dear man, please, do not. The shallowness of wealth and power holds no appeal for me. "
    While staring in awe at one of the least prepossessing figures I have ever beheld, I suddenly had the answer to Maha's earlier, unanswerable question! Later, I told Maha that she would one day meet a man deserving of her faithful love, for such men existed. She and I had met one in London.
    Once we were back in Riyadh, the source of Maha's knowledge of black magic was revealed. It was as I had thought. Noorah was the culprit.
    Maha told her father, in my presence, that it was her grandmother who had introduced her to the dark world of the occult. Confronted with Abdullah's clothing wrapped around a charm, Maha denied wanting to cast a spell on her brother. Hoping that she had learned a great lesson, we did not press the issue.
    I desired nothing more than to confront my mother-in-law, spit in her face, and yank out her hair.
    Kareem, wisely recognizing the dangers of pent up anger, refused to let me accompany him when he went to confront her about her misdeeds. Nevertheless, I did coax my unenthusiastic sister Sara into paying a visit to our mutual mother-in-law's palace at the time of Kareem's visit.
    Sara arrived at Noorah's villa shortly after my husband. She waited in the garden for Kareem to leave. Sara said that she overheard Kareem's shouts and Noorah's pleas for mercy. Kareem forbade his mother to visit his children without supervision.
    Long after my husband had left, Sara said, Noorah's moans of despair could be heard in the garden.
    "Kareem, most beloved, you came from my womb! Come back to your mother, who cannot live without your precious love."
    Sara accused me of being as wicked as Noorah, for I radiated much happiness when, she told me of my treacherous mother-in-law well deserved wretchedness.

MAKKAH
    God, Great and Glorious is He, said: "And proclaim among men the pilgrimage, they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel, coming from every deep ravine.
    -Al Haj, 22:27

    THERE IS NO method to calculate the number of pious Muslims who have perished while making the grueling journey across the deserts of Saudi Arabia since the time of the Prophet Mohammed and the first pilgrimage, but the total is estimated to be in the thousands. While I am pleased to report that it is no longer necessary for devout Muslims to do battle with bedouin raiding parties or even to travel through Saudi Arabia on foot or riding lean camels in order to fulfil their fervent desire to perform one of the basic tenets of Islam, the annual pilgrimage to the holy city of Makkah, known as Mecca to Westerners, still remains a chaotic affair. Each year, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims converge on the cities, airports, and highways of Saudi Arabia for the rite of pilgrimage during the time of Haj. (Haj begins in Dhu Al Qida, the eleventh month of the hejira calendar, and ends during Dhu Al Hijah, the twelfth month of the hejira calendar.)
    I performed the traditional pilgrimage many