My dearest uncle, with a loving heart,  twinkly eyes, and a ready smile. He had a bass, booming voice. He was intelligent to the nth degree. He was a journalist for Pakistani newspapers as well the London Times. He had a lively sense of humor and usually a twinkle in his mischievous eyes. We would also get yelled at if we disturbed his afternoon siesta. Once, my brother, my two cousins and I were running around the house, and I mean really running, in the afternoon, we knocked over a wooden divan that was standing on its side in the veranda. It came down with a crash! And all four of us skidaddled, gone, out. of. sight! My aunt and uncle came out and couldn’t for the life of them understand how it fell. They assumed it was just a breeze or something that knocked it over. There are so many funny and livening stories like this, I will have to sit down and write them all down.

He was the grandson of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, who was an Indian Muslim pragmatist, Islamic modernist, philosopher and social activist of nineteenth century India. And the son of Mirza Mohammad Syed. He was truly a gem without compare, he loved us all, he had integrity and moral principles to no end. He is gone, and there will never be another. Such a loss, such an awful loss for all of us who loved him.