May Allah have mercy on Abdulaziz Al Omran I have known him as an official, fellow and a friend for over forty years. I have no recollection of exactly the date I came to knowing him, but I remember very well it was while I was a student spending my time reading cultural books. Despite the easy means of cultural diversity today, I think keenness to knowledge then was far more better. There were no guardians of divine message or vaunted notions of Islam guards, as they do restrict diversity of a library or a book fair. The Nahda library in Batha – as I recall - would provide a diversity of Russian, French, British or black U.S. knowledge. I was not interested in sport activities then even though it was the only means of entertainments while the knowledge was available at that time. However, I tried to write about sports, despite my ignorance about the rules, as I was surrounded by many friends keen in sports. It seems that success I made in this field would be attributed to my cultural knowledge rather than richness of the articles. Abdul Aziz - may Allah have mercy on him - was Al Nasr supporter, while I was Al Hilal supporter. We did not talk to each other because of the course of competition. Therefore, I was surprised when my colleague Mohammad Al Ajian told me that the editorial director, Abdulaziz Al Omran, wanted me to visit him at home. I was surprised when he asked me to take the position of sports editor. So I replied "you know that I am al hilal supporter", and he replied "being Al Nasr supporter did not prevent me from being neutral, so I hope you will be objective", and this is what I did. Years later, he left the work and I moved from sport to the general editing and later chief editor. Abdulaziz - may Allah have mercy on him - lived in an exciting life, independent of any temptations that could affect others. Money was not his objective while his relation with others was not affected by differences they had. He was multi-cultural man with a unique vision in the field of media. His independence made him refuse to give in before any influence. He had been through many funny situations with men of great fame, and also enjoyed the credibility which may take him to disputes rather than benefits. Once a debate heated between him and a member of a famous family, the latter said to him "who are you?", and went on saying "my grandfather is better than your grandfather, who is your grandfather and what did he do?" ss Abdulaziz replied "may Allah have mercy on both of them, It is true your grandfather is the best but I am sure that my father is better than your father and I am better than you". The audience nearly cheered him but did not to avoid the escalating the issue. He had many situations of generosity despite his limited financial capabilities, as well as positions of support of he believed in, even though it could have entered him in disputes. He was also funny and would make others seeking for his jokes and knowledge.
