52. Abdelrahmen Maklouf

I am Abdelrahmen Maklouf, born in 1924, the son of Sheikh Hassanain Maklouf. I was the city planner for Makkah from 1959 to 1961. I am not from Saudi Arabia, although I hold the country close to my heart.

I was first brought to Saudi Arabia, as you can see from the dates in my passport, by the UN in 1959. I remember looking at photos of Mecca and Medina when I was studying in Italy and some may not believe this, but I knew my destiny lay there. When I was selected by the UN to visit the cities as an expert in urban planning, it wasn’t really a surprise to me. Being a Muslim worked in my favour; it would be ludicrous for a non-Muslim to attempt to re-map a city that would never allow him in. I stayed right up until 1963, during which time I planned out five major cities for Saudi and watched them being built by the great Bin Laden Group: Jeddah, Mecca, Medina, Yembo and Ghizan.

To look now upon the destruction of what I worked so hard to develop is very hard for me. I do not, of course, wish for any conflict with a country that welcomed me and let me draw upon my learning for the betterment of their state. But Mecca … I am not the only one to say how close this site is to my heart. That a city could break a heart, who would believe that?

Later, I moved back to Cairo, then went to Abu Dhabi, where I also planned the city and found my home. It is an incredible feeling to live in a city that you have mapped out. I am old now, but the new tales of Mecca still rattle these elderly bones: the millions that visit and the hundreds that never leave, the panicking crowds of a city enduring the hammers of ruthless demolition. Like my father before me, it seems I may live to nearly 100, yearning for a Mecca of long ago.