Princess Nawf Bint Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, the eldest of Crown Prince Sultan's 15 daughters, has spoken of her father's return to the Kingdom after more than a year abroad for medical treatment and recuperation in her first ever interview with a national newspaper. Speaking to Okaz by telephone from the Crown Prince's Al-Aziziya Palace in the Capital, Princess Nawf told of her unbridled joy at her father's return, bestowed by Allah of complete health. “While he was away the Crown Prince was in constant contact with his sons and daughters and never stopped asking how we were, what was going on in our lives, and what he could help us with,” Princess Nawf said. “None of us felt that he was away, instead it was as if he were still here with us, with his fatherly presence in all its compassion, concern and boundless humanity which goes beyond his own sons and daughters to include all the sons and daughters of this nation, as Prince Sultan is a father to all Saudis.” “His absence changed nothing in terms of contact with his family, as through his continual calls and questions he kept up-to-date on all the details of our daily lives,” the Princess said. Princess Nawf said that her father reminded his sons and daughters to remain “pious to Allah above all else and fear Allah in everything we do”. “That is of fundamental importance to him, and he always reminded us to ensure the wellbeing of relatives, and to treat all people with humility, kindness and love, and help them in any way we can,” she said. “It was no surprise when my uncle King Abdullah went to Morocco to visit my father last summer to see how he was, it was to be expected of him as he is not simply an uncle to us but also a father who showers us with affection, fatherliness and nobility, and who is by nature a man of good deeds. He is very close to us, and his visit was far more than just that of one brother to another, or made out of a sense of responsibility, but was instead conducted out of the love between them, borne out of the humanity of King Abdullah's character,” Princess Nawf said. The Crown Prince's daughter thanked Allah for granting her father with the virtues of character that have made him synonymous with acts of charity and beneficence both in the Kingdom and abroad. “He has been that way since he was a child,” Princess Nawf said, “and as a father accustomed us to working for such ends, and we were brought up, without noticing, to follow such a way which is what Islam calls for, and what our father always encouraged us towards, and for which we ask Allah that He grant us success.” The Princess continued by speaking of her father's concern for women in the Kingdom, describing him as seeking “advancement for women in accordance with our tolerant Islamic Shariah and our correct religion which permits women to carry out their role within the teachings of the tolerant religion to serve the nation in its many and various fields and responsibilities.” On the love that the people feel for the Crown Prince, Princess Nawf said: “Love is from Allah, and when Allah loves His servant He makes all his creations love him, and Prince Sultan loves the people, and communicates with them, and stands by them all as an affectionate father, and takes pity on the poor and engages in their issues, and tends to the wounds of the injured, and releases their anguish, and supports them in their rights, and that I believe is why people love him the way they do, this great man in all his unique and rare qualities.” “My feelings at the moment are the feelings of every Saudi, with love for the Crown Prince, the person who is a father to every Saudi, emotions I feel that do not differ from any other Saudi man or woman, and which extend even beyond the borders of this country, as I have known from those I have spoken to and those I have heard,” the Princess said of her emotions as the day of her father's return approached. “The feelings are beyond description, and I don't say this due to my emotional attachment to my father, but it is evident from everyone else, you only have to ask them and they will tell you.”
