Saudi foundation marks World Letter Writing Day by publishing letters sent by King Abdulaziz

To coincide with World Letter Writing Day on Sept. 1, the King Abdulaziz Foundation published a number of rare historical documents, some of them more than 100 years old, including a number of letters written by King Abdulaziz to his father, Abdul Rahman bin Faisal, some of his sisters, and officials in government agencies.

They include a reply the future king of Saudi Arabia sent to his father in 1919, in which he expressed his appreciation and fondness for him, told him he had received the letters he sent, and talked about the condition he was in and the conditions of those with him, the foundation said on Friday. In another letter, written in 1925, the king reassured his father that he and his companions were well and reported good news about the conditions of the country and its people.

The letters reflect the depth of King Abdulaziz’s love for his father and the special relationship between them that was evident during the stages leading up to the restoration of Saudi rule and building the Saudi state, the foundation said.

King Abdulaziz, who ruled Saudi Arabia from when it was founded in 1932 until his death in 1953, was known to value family ties and did not allow the responsibilities of leadership and state building to cause him to neglect those areas, it added.

The foundation also published three letters in which the king’s love and appreciation of his sisters Mudhi, Hessa and Al-Jawhara were evident. In one of them, sent to Mudhi in 1924, he informed her that he had entered Makkah. In another, sent to Hessa, he spoke of the beautiful atmosphere during the Hajj pilgrimage in 1927, its tranquility, and the safety of the pilgrims. In a letter to Al-Jawhara in 1928, he talked about the application of Shariah.

The foundation said another set of documents includes letters that highlight the humanity of King Abdulaziz, and his great interest in the details of people’s lives and their needs. It said that this humanity, and his eloquence, are evident in letters sent to officials and princes urging them to take into account the requirements and rights of the people, to take care of them, and to ensure their needs were met.

The documents include a 1924 letter he sent to Saleh bin Abdul Wahed, and asked him to forward to Dr. Mahmoud Hamdi, which asked for medical examinations of pilgrims to be conducted.

In 1931 he sent a letter to an official asking for homes to be provided for some imams and muezzins. A letter sent to Abdullah Al-Khalid and Abdul Rahman bin Oudan in 1942 called for trustworthy people to be recruited to distribute charitable donations among the poor. In a similar vein, he ordered money for Hajj expenses to be handed out to the poor and needy in 1941.

The foundation said that the publication of the letters offers a reminder of the great humanitarian ideals of the founder of the country. It added that the King Salman Center for the Restoration and Preservation of Historical Documents is using the latest technologies to catalog, restore and preserve such documents.

A huge collection of historical documents and rare letters related to the nation’s history is in the care of the foundation, along with an integrated archive of other historical items, including photographs and films. It said that the collection represents a database of national history that is invaluable to researchers and other specialists.