Hassan Nasrallah: An Arab Man

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

Our habit is to condemn Arab leaders and rulers, not to praise them. By God, praise is a heavy thing in this age, when matters are so confused, and evil overwhelms good, vice overwhelms virtue, defeat overwhelms victory, backwardness overwhelms progress, and impurity overwhelms purity; were it not that this praise is deserved, I would not have written these words. Hassan Nasrallah is a leader unlike all other leaders, regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with him, and under his leadership a great Arab victory was achieved against the arrogant — and he has a right, owed to him by Arab writers and historians, to receive the recognition he deserves.

Yesterday, 5 October 2007, I listened to Sayyed Hassan’s speech marking Jerusalem Day, and I found in myself a strong motive to depart from the usual and to express the impressions that had accumulated in me over time.

Hassan Nasrallah is an Arab man who has entered history through its widest gate, regardless of the political and military developments the region may yet undergo, and this for the following reasons:

First: the man possesses a scientific mind and powerful logic. Although he is deeply devout, religion taught him how to be scientific rather than metaphysical in his reasoning; he is convinced that the scientific mind — one that thinks, reflects, plans, and manages — is a religious matter before it is a worldly, inductive method.

Second: the man is calm and does not lose his composure; if his voice rises at times, that is due to the demands of moving oratory, not to agitation. He calculates matters precisely, down to their details, and does not act rashly under the pressure of moods.

Third: the man knows himself completely; he does not speak words too large for his mouth, does not carry a sword longer than his own stature, and does not shoulder a burden wider than his own embrace.

Fourth: when Sayyed Hassan speaks, he speaks the truth; when he promises, he fulfills the promise; and if he falls short or errs, he acknowledges it and corrects what can be corrected.

[Fifth — lost to corruption in the source document] …I consider him a thinker who offers a clear social and economic vision, and at the same time a man of the field who works to put into practice what he believes.

Sixth: the man believes in the unity of Muslims; he does not distinguish between Sunni and Shia, nor between Muslim and non-Muslim on the Islamic stage, nor between Arab and non-Arab on the Arab stage. He is a unionist Muslim.

Seventh: he attends to his needs in secrecy. He does not boast, and he does not strut.

Eighth: he is a simple, humble man, still, at heart, the generous son of his village.

Ninth: Sayyed Hassan possesses great fortitude, firm resolve, pride, and a raised head. An affront to his own dignity, or to the dignity of the nation, is what most provokes his anger.

Tenth: Sayyed Hassan is very slow to build cultural and intellectual bridges with Arab thought leaders inside and outside the Arab homeland. I sometimes feel that he is a captive of his own party and of local considerations, despite his unionist convictions.

I want to reassure the reader that these words about Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah are given free of charge. Sayyed Hassan does not pay money to those who praise him, and I neither take money nor extend my hand for it. Real men do not pay money to those who describe their manhood, and real men do not wait for money when they speak of manliness. I say this because the Arab heritage we now possess rests, for the most part, on hypocrisy and lying, and on paying and receiving. It is only half-men who buy praise, and it is only half-men who cheapen their own hands in exchange for it. This is no exception made for women, among whom there are the honorable, the high of head, and among whom there are the debased.

Even though Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is a firm and courageous man, that does not relieve me of the duty to stress the necessity of continued steadfastness. The goal is great, and the hardships that lie before it must be made small.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “حسن نصر الله: رجل عربي” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.