Abdullah Al-Sulaimani said the generosity of Sultan Al-Khair, the humanitarian prince, as he was commonly described because of his charitable deeds, forever changed his life. “The prince of humanity gave me SR1 million, which I used to settle my debts and buy a small house for my family,” he said.
Al-Sulaimani recalled that when he accumulated debts reaching more than SR200,000 a few years ago, he had no one to turn to after Allah except Prince Sultan, who solved all his problems.
Al-Sulaimani said he was unable to pay the installments for a car he had bought to use as a taxi.
“I had nowhere to live with my wife and 10 children except in a tent we erected along the street. Arab News published my story. Three years ago, I took a copy of the newspaper, my identity card and a plea for help and went to meet Prince Sultan in his palace in Al-Aziziyah district of Makkah. The prince wrote me a check for SR1 million which solved all my problems,” he said.
Al-Sulaimani did not believe that he would be allowed to see the prince in person, especially when his secretary asked him to leave his papers and promised to call him back.
“Only about 30 minutes later the secretary called me and asked me to come back immediately to the palace. When I arrived, the secretary told me that Prince Sultan had studied my case and ordered that I be given SR1 million. I cashed the check and became the happiest man on earth thanks to the charitable prince,” he said.
Al-Sulaimani said he could not believe his ears when he heard about Prince Sultan’s death.
“Early Saturday morning my wife called me on my mobile and told me tearfully that Crown Prince Sultan had died. I could not drive so I stopped the car and began to cry. I went home and watched the news on television, which confirmed the bad news. I will never forget Prince Sultan, who had been very kind to me,” he said.
Al-Sulaimani recalled the story of an old man who Prince Sultan had helped 17 years ago.
“At that time I was in the army. Prince Sultan came to us in Khamis Mushayt to congratulate the soldiers on the occasion of the Eid, as was his custom every year. An old man told the prince that there was no electricity in the village he lived in, there were no roads and that he had no car. The prince ordered that electricity be provided immediately to the village, asphalted roads be constructed and that the old man be given a new four-wheel drive,” he said.
Waad, a Saudi female teacher, had another story to tell about the late prince’s humanity.
After 35 years of living with a rich family, she discovered that she did not actually belong to them.
“I was born to a poor family but there was a mixup in the hospital where I had been exchanged with the family's real daughter. When this became public knowledge, I had to go back to my own family, which was quite poor. Arab News wrote my story. I sent a message to the Royal Court asking for help and I immediately received a telephone call informing me that Prince Sultan had written me a check for SR200,000, which helped me stand on my feet again,” she said.
She said she fainted in the school when she heard the news of his death. “I could not stop crying the whole day because Prince Sultan was so kind to me. He had actually saved my life,” she said.
