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First Human in “Heaven”

Benson C Saili
THIS EARTH, MY BROTHER

King Anu sends for Enki’s son with Earthling woman

Christians are hardly  aware that Genesis talks not of one Adam but three.  The English version of Genesis fuses the three into one composite being giving rise to a somewhat muddled account the clergy are at pains to untangle. The original Hebrew version is less ambiguous but  it too does not crisply delineate the three Adams.   


The first Adam appears in GENESIS 1:26-29. This is not an individual: it is mankind in general. Adama in Hebrew means mankind. The passage reads as follows:


"Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  

And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’  And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. HYPERLINK "https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ge1.26-29" l "footnote7"  You shall have them for food.”


 Where you read “man” in the above passage, in the Hebrew version it is “Adama”, which should best be translated as “The Adam”. That’s why at face value, the statement “in the image of God (Elohim in Hebrew) he created him; male and female he created them” comes across as absurd in the English version as a “him” cannot be at once male and female.

 

The Hebrew, however, makes it clear that this is talking about mankind in general. This is the stage in the evolutionary process where mankind emerges  from Homo Erectus, or Ape-Man. Of course we’re aware by now that this did not happen naturally: it was contrived by the Anunnaki, the Old Testament gods represented by Enki, his step-sister Ninmah, and his genius son Ningishzidda by way of genetic engineering.  Thus the use of the term Elohim in the Hebrew version is apt: it identifies exactly who was responsible for the emergence of man – the Anunnaki and not First Source, the real God.  


 The second Adam features in GENESIS 2:7-8 and 15-25, as well as the whole of GENESIS 3. This Adam was the first physiologically sound  human being, the father of mankind. He was the first Homo Sapiens (“Thinking Man”), also known as Neanderthal Man. This is the Adam we have been talking about to date, the Adam who was married to Tiamat, wrongly identified as Eve in Genesis. This is the Adam who was taken to the Edin and then expelled after Enki intellectually conscientised him and the Shurrupak operation endued him with the capacity to produce young. He was then returned to East Africa at Enki’s life sciences laboratory known as Bit Shimti.  


 The third Adam debuts in GENESIS 4. This is a particularly special Adam. In the Sumerian records, he is known as Adapa.  Adapa was Enki’s biological son, Earth’s first demi-god being half human, half Anunnaki.  

ENKI SIRES ADAPA WITH EARTHLING LASS

Adam, the father of mankind, was a divisive figure. Though initially despised by Enlil, the Bible’s primary Jehovah, he was highly prized by Enki, his creator. A primitive being in the early stages of his development, Adam went about stark naked but he was in due course dignified with clothes by Enki. This was not simply a civilising gesture: it was a profound move. By clothing him, Enki elevated him to the same social status as the Anunnaki – a master.


As Enki continued to further enlighten and sophisticate Adam mentally and intellectually, the Enlilites took notice of him and he was duly instituted as the first human King of Earth. He was accordingly returned to Eridu in the Edin, from where he had initially been ejected by Enlil, and installed as King. He was King not over the Anunnaki though; only over fellow Earthlings, who he had himself spawned. But it was all ceremonial as he hardly had any sway over mankind: Enlil still called the shots over all and sundry anyway.


According to the Babylonian historian Berossus, Adam “ruled” for 46,800 years. Another King List titled WB-62 puts his total reign at 72,000 years. The Berossus list calls him Amelon, which means “Workman” in Akkadian, the parent language of Hebrew. This is well in accord with the Sumerian  Lulu Amelu,  or primitive worker – the purpose for which Adam was created.  The WB-62 list calls him Enkidunnu, meaning “Fashioned by Enki”, another well-premised denomination.


Now, whilst Adam himself was bright and very civil thanks to his round-the-clock chaperoning by Enki, his offspring were not. Instead of intellectually advancing, they were actually regressing.   They were reverting to the Ape-Man psyche and behavioural eccentricity as they reproduced. The Anunnaki component in them (the Adamic race DNA was partly Anunnaki as we have related) was receding. Enki decided it was time he arrested this degradation.

 

He was going to bring into existence a civilised man who would be the prototype for a cleverer strain of mankind. He was also going to prevail over Enlil to introduce agriculture so that the genetically upgraded mankind would grow crops and rear animals for the sustenance of the Anunnaki, who were presently reeling from rather precarious rations.   


This time, however, Enki was not going to bring about the new “creation” using the laboratory route. He was going to do so naturally, by sexual reproduction in which he would be a direct participant. After all, he was famed for his sexual prowess, with his own daughters numbering among his conquests in this connection.  


One day as he rode in a boat along a river in the Edin accompanied only by his vizier Isimud, he saw two ravishing female Lulus frolicking naked on the river bank. He made overtures to them and with their consent as witnessed by Isimud (he didn’t want another “Sudigate” – a fate that had befallen Enlil over Sud) had a threesome “quickie” with them right on the boat. It turned out  they had been ovulating as both became pregnant. Nine months later, one gave birth to a boy and another a girl. This was in the 93rd shar, that is, 334,800 years after the Anunnaki’s first landing on Earth, or about 110,000 years ago.


When Enki saw his two little bundles of joy, he was over the moon. They were so cherubic, so cute. He decided there and then that they were going to be raised up not among the Lulus but in his own cosy household. But what    was he going to say to his wife Ninki? He and Isimud came up with an idea.

 

He was to say the two kids were found stashed in reed baskets among the bulrushes as in the Moses story.. The yarn worked: Ninki actually took a great liking to the highly adorable infants. And as was Anunnaki custom, it fell to her to confer names on them as the adoptive mother.  

She called the boy Adapa, which can also be rendered as Atabba.  Zechariah Sitchin translates this as “One who was found”. It makes sense as Ninki believed the babies were “tapped” from a body of water (in Bemba, the dominant Zambian language, to “tapa” is to draw water).  But it could also mean “The Multiplying Apa” or “Multiplying Father”. Ata in Sumerian means to proliferate and apa was the ancient term for ape. Abba meant Father.

 

Adapa was indeed meant to be the progenitor of a new generation of civilised mankind.    As for the girl, Ninki named her Titi, meaning “Lady of Life”, also rendered Ninkhawa. In Hebrew, this is Hawah, shortened Awa – Eve in English.  But the root verb that gave rise to Hawah was Hayah, meaning “to live”. Since Titi was fathered by Enki, the Enlilites would in future deride her as the “Serpent Lady”, just as they would do Marduk’s wife. This mockery would over time inform the Arabic word for female serpent – Hayah.  

KING ANU SUMMONS ADAPA

In the male chauvinistic Anunnaki society, Enki’s focus was on Adapa. As he grew, he turned out to be phenomenally brilliant, the result both of Enki’s genes and devoted tutelage.  Soon he was making waves among the Anunnaki and he was only a lad, maybe 12 years or so. Upon hearing of him, Enlil demanded to see him.

 

Enki paid heed and told him the same cock-and-bull story he had fed his wife – that he was one of two babies who had been hidden in the bulrushes by their unknown Earthling mother. When Enlil wondered as to why unlike an ordinary Lulu kid Adapa was so staggeringly intelligent, Enki rationalised to him that he was simply a new generation of Lulus as intellectual evolution was a matter of course.


Although Enlil wasn’t convinced as to tell from his appearance Adapa seemed to have substantial Anunnaki blood in him – possibly the reason the mother hid the babies as casual sexual relations between humans and the Anunnaki were forbidden – he was nevertheless smitten by the extraordinarily smart and drop-dead-gorgeous boy. Thus when Enki proposed to him that Adapa be groomed into an agriculturalist to grow food and produce meat for the Anunnaki, Enlil latched on to the idea. But first, King Anu had to be informed both about Adapa and what was envisaged of him.


At the time the message was beamed to Nibiru, the planet was already in the ecliptic plane in its 3600-year-orbit and so it was closer to Earth. Albeit, King Anu demanded that Adapa be brought to Nibiru forthwith to enable him make a firsthand assessment. The injunction alarmed all three – Enki, Enlil, and Adapa.

 

Enlil feared that if Anu was overly pleased with Adapa, he might provide him with the “Food of Life” and the “Water of Life” (both simply aspects of Ormus-rich foodstuffs), which would make Earthlings live nearly as long as the Anunnaki. Were that to happen, Earthlings would no longer be in awe of the Anunnaki and would treat them as equals and not as superiors. Enki feared that maybe a snare was being laid for his cherished Adapa: being a Lulu, he might suffer a subtle victimisation leading either to his demise or intellectual atrophy.

 

As for Adapa himself, he was loathe to venture into the anonymity and desolation of space. Enki had taught him about the possible perils of space travel and he dreaded such an eventuality as any faint-hearted kid would. But an order by King Anu was inviolable and so the journey was inevitable: Adapa just had to go to Nibiru notwithstanding lingering misgivings. 


ADAPA SETS OFF FOR NIBIRU

King Anu sent his vizier, Ilabrat, to fetch young Adapa.  Of course Ilabrat’s journey to Earth must have taken a few months even using the much speedier warp-drive propulsion. Meanwhile, Enki appointed two “gods”, as the Anunnaki called themselves, to accompany Adapa to the “Planet of the Gods”. They were his sons Ningishzidda and Dumuzi, both born on Earth. Then he sat them down together with Adapa to administer to them joining instructions.

 

To Adapa he said thus: “Adapa, to Nibiru, the planet whence we had come, you will be going. Before Anu our king you will come, to his majesty you will be presented.  Before him you shall bow. Speak only when asked, to questions short answers give! New clothing you will be given; the new garments put on. A bread on Earth not found they to you will give; the bread is death, do not eat! In a chalice an elixir to drink they to you will give; the elixir is death, do not drink! With you Ningishzidda and Dumuzi my sons will journey, to their words hearken, and you shall live!”


Note that Enki warned Adapa not to take any kind of food he was given at the palace as he was of the strong suspicion his son might be tactfully eliminated by Anu, who like Enlil did not have a very high regard for Earthlings and frowned upon cross-racial intercourse. Adapa’s riddance would serve as a warning to the Anunnaki not to sexually consort with the inferior Lulus. King Anu would straightaway know Adapa had Anunnaki blood in him as he way lighter than Adam. As we have already pointed out, the Anunnaki were predominantly chalky white: only a tiny minority were dark-skinned, such as the Olmecs.


To Dumuzi and Ningishzidda, who like Adapa were visiting Nibiru for the first time, Enki said thus: “Before Anu the king, my father, you are coming. To him you shall bow and homage pay. By princes and nobles do not be cowered, of them you are the equals. To bring Adapa back to Earth is your mission, by Nibiru's delights be not charmed!” Enki made a point of emphasising to his sons that they were not to stay for good on Nibiru having been mesmerised by its infrastructural beauty and sophistication. Their commission was to deliver Adapa to King Anu and ensure he was returned safely back to Earth. He also reiterated to them that they were not to be in awe of the Nibiru nobility as they too were nobles. They were not subordinate in any way.


Finally, the day of departure arrived. It was the first time Adapa had boarded a flying craft. When it took off, he was at once amazed and apprehensive that an “Eagle” could “fly without wings”, a reflection both of his naivety as a youngster and Earthlings as a whole, who regarded Anunnaki technology as “magic”. And when at long last the sky ship was coursing yonder in space and Earth had disappeared from view, Adapa thought he had been lured into a death trap: he cried out aloud to be returned back to the planet. Among Ningishzidda’s personal effects was a parcel Enki had given him to deliver to King Anu, a “sealed tablet”, which was simply an encrypted data stick.  

ADAPA WOOS NIBIRUIANS

The moment the flying saucer touched down on the landing apron in the throne city Agade, there was a lot of fanfare. Throngs had gathered to see a being from another planet. Adapa was conducted to the palace in an open-topped levitating vehicle so that the masses who had lined the streets could see him. The first Earthling to set foot on Nibiru, he impressed them immensely as he was beautiful and looked a great deal like them when most had envisaged an animal-like being.


At the palace, the three visitors were given new clothes, Nibiru attire, and doused with perfumed oils, a precondition if one was to come before the presence of the King. A whole contingent of the Nibiru nobility was also in attendance, each craning his or her neck to glimpse the cute young human.


When Ilabrat led the three into the throne room, King Anu was exhilarated to see his two grandsons, shedding tears of glee as he bear-hugged and kissed them.  It struck the King that they looked much older than they would have been had they been born and lived on Nibiru.


The King had Ningishzidda and Dumuzi  sit on his flanks. Then turning to young Adapa, who stood before him in a rather pensive mood, he asked Ilabrat: “Does he our speech understand?” Ilabrat replied: “Indeed he does; by the Lord Enki he was taught.” The great King, the most powerful man in the Peshmeten, the 9th Passageway of the Milky Way Galaxy, asked the young lad to step forward. “Come hither Adapa ,” he said. “What is your name and your occupation?”  The King asked Adapa of his occupation because in Anunnaki culture, one began to cultivate a trade from childhood.


“Adapa is my name,” the boy answered. “Of the Lord Enki I am a servant! He’s training me in all sorts of crafts.” Up until now, Enki had not divulged to Adapa that the two were father and son. Adapa therefore was of the belief that he was Enki’s resident student and understudy. He called him Master and not Dad as he ideally should have.  


After asking him a series of probing questions, Anu thought he sounded as intelligent and as eloquent as any of the Anunnaki savants and yet he was only a little boy. “A wonder of wonders on Earth has been attained,” the King declared, highly extolling Enki. Thus impressed, he now announced that, “Let there a celebration be, let us our guests thus welcome!”  

NEXT WEEK: THE TWINS WITH AN INTERESTING TWIST
 

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GONE FISHING

28th March 2023

In recent years, using personal devices in working environments has become so commonplace it now has its own acronym, BOYD (Bring Your Own Device).  But as employees skip between corporate tools and personal applications on their own devices, their actions introduce a number of possible risks that should be managed and mitigated with careful consideration.  Consider these examples:

Si-lwli, a small family-run business in Wales, is arguably as niche a company as you could find, producing talking toys used to promote the Welsh language. Their potential market is small, with only some 300,000 Welsh language speakers in the world and in reality the business is really more of a hobby for the husband-and-wife team, who both still have day jobs.  Yet, despite still managing to be successful in terms of sales, the business is now fighting for survival after recently falling prey to cybercriminals. Emails between Si-Iwli and their Chinese suppliers were intercepted by hackers who altered the banking details in the correspondence, causing Si-Iwli to hand over ÂŁ18,000 (around P ÂŒ m) to the thieves. That might not sound much to a large enterprise, but to a small or medium business it can be devastating.

Another recent SMB hacking story which appeared in the Wall Street Journal concerned Innovative Higher Ed Consulting (IHED) Inc, a small New York start-up with a handful of employees. IHED didn’t even have a website, but fraudsters were able to run stolen credit card numbers through the company’s payment system and reverse the charges to the tune of $27,000, around the same loss faced by Si-Iwli.  As the WSJ put it, the hackers completely destroyed the company, forcing its owners to fold.

And in May 2019, the city of Baltimore’s computer system was hit by a ransomware attack, with hackers using a variant called RobinHood. The hack, which has lasted more than a month, paralysed the computer system for city employees, with the hackers demanding a payment in Bitcoin to give access back to the city.

Of course, hackers target governments or business giants  but small and medium businesses are certainly not immune. In fact, 67% of SMBs reported that they had experienced a cyber attack across a period of 12 months, according to a 2018 survey carried out by security research firm Ponemon Institute. Additionally, Verizon issued a report in May 2019 that small businesses accounted for 43% of its reported data breaches.  Once seen as less vulnerable than PCs, smartphone attacks are on the rise, with movements like the Dark Caracal spyware campaign underlining the allure of mobile devices to hackers. Last year, the US Federal Trade Commission released a statement calling for greater education on mobile security, coming at a time when around 42% of all Android devices are believed to not carry the latest security updates.

This is an era when employees increasingly use their smartphones for work-related purposes so is your business doing enough to protect against data breaches on their employees’ phones? The SME Cyber Crime Survey 2018 carried out for risk management specialists AON showed that more than 80% of small businesses did not view this as a threat yet if as shown, 67% of SMBs were said to have been victims of hacking, either the stats are wrong or business owners are underestimating their vulnerability.  A 2019 report by PricewaterhouseCoopers suggests the latter, stating that the majority of global businesses are unprepared for cyber attacks.

Consider that a workstation no longer means a desk in an office: It can be a phone in the back of a taxi or Uber; a laptop in a coffee shop, or a tablet in an airport lounge.  Wherever the device is used, employees can potentially install applications that could be harmful to your business, even from something as seemingly insignificant as clicking on an accidental download or opening a link on a phishing email.  Out of the physical workplace, your employees’ activities might not have the same protections as they would on a company-monitored PC.

Yet many businesses not only encourage their employees to work remotely, but assume working from coffee shops, bookstores, and airports can boost employees’ productivity.  Unfortunately, many remote hot spots do not provide secure Wi-Fi so if your employee is accessing their work account on unsecured public Wi-Fi,  sensitive business data could be at risk. Furthermore, even if your employee uses a company smartphone or has access to company data through a personal mobile device, there is always a chance data could be in jeopardy with a lost or stolen device, even information as basic as clients’ addresses and phone numbers.

BOYDs are also at risk from malware designed to harm and infect the host system, transmittable to smartphones when downloading malicious third-party apps.  Then there is ransomware, a type of malware used by hackers to specifically take control of a system’s data, blocking access or threatening to release sensitive information unless a ransom is paid such as the one which affected Baltimore.  Ransomware attacks are on the increase,  predicted to occur every 14 seconds, potentially costing billions of dollars per year.

Lastly there is phishing – the cyber equivalent of the metaphorical fishing exercise –  whereby  cybercriminals attempt to obtain sensitive data –usernames, passwords, credit card details –usually through a phoney email designed to look legitimate which directs the user to a fraudulent website or requests the data be emailed back directly. Most of us like to think we could recognize a phishing email when we see it, but these emails have become more sophisticated and can come through other forms of communication such as messaging apps.

Bottom line is to be aware of the potential problems with BOYDs and if in doubt,  consult your IT security consultants.  You can’t put the own-device genie back in the bottle but you can make data protection one of your three wishes!

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“I Propose to Diana Tonight”

28th March 2023

About five days before Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed landed in Paris, General Atiku, a certain Edward Williams was taking a walk in a woods in the Welsh town of Mountain Ash. Williams, then 73, was a psychic of some renown. He had in the past foretold assassination attempts on US President Ronald Reagan, which occurred on March 30, 1981, and Pope John Paul II, which came to pass on May 13, 1981.

As he trudged the woods, Williams  had a sudden premonition that pointed to Diana’s imminent fate as per Christopher Andersen’s book The Day Diana Died. “When the vision struck me, it was as if everything around me was obscured and replaced by shadowy figures,” Williams was later to reminisce. “In the middle was the face of Princess Diana. Her expression was sad and full of pathos. She was wearing what looked like a floral dress with a short dark cardigan. But it was vague. I went cold with fear and knew it was a sign that she was in danger.”

Williams hastily beat a retreat to his home, which he shared with his wife Mary, and related to her his presentiment, trembling like an aspen leaf as he did so. “I have never seen him so upset,” Mary recounted. “He felt he was given a sign and when he came back from his walk he was deeply shaken.”

The following day, Williams frantically sauntered into a police station to inform the police of his premonition. The officer who attended to him would have dismissed him as no more than a crackpot but he treated him seriously in view of the accuracy of his past predictions. He  took a statement and immediately passed it on to the Special Branch Investigative  Unit.

The report read as follows:

“On 27 August, at 14:12 hrs, a man by the name of Edward Williams came to Mountain Ash police station. He said he was a psychic and predicted that Princess Diana was going to die. In previous years, he has predicted that the Pope and Ronald Reagan were going to be the victims of assassination attempts. On both occasions he was proved to be correct. Mr Williams appeared to be quite normal.”

Williams, General, was spot-on as usual: four days later, the princess was no more.

Meanwhile, General,  even as Dodi and Diana were making their way to the Fayed-owned Ritz Hotel in central Paris, British newspapers were awash with headlines that suggested Diana was kind of deranged. Writes Andrew Morton in Diana in Pursuit of Love: “In The Independent Diana was described as ‘a woman with fundamentally nothing to say about anything’. She was ‘suffering from a form of arrested development’. ‘Isn’t it time she started using her head?’ asked The Mail on Sunday. The Sunday Mirror printed a special supplement entitled ‘A Story of Love’; The News of the World claimed that William had demanded that Diana should split from Dodi: ‘William can’t help it, he just doesn’t like the man.’ William was reportedly ‘horrified’ and ‘doesn’t think Mr Fayed is good for his mother’ – or was that just the press projecting their own prejudices? The upmarket Sunday Times newspaper, which had first serialised my biography of the princess, now put her in the psychiatrist’s chair for daring to be wooed by a Muslim. The pop-psychologist Oliver James put Diana ‘On the Couch’, asking why she was so ‘depressed’ and desperate for love. Other tabloids piled in with dire prognostications – about Prince Philip’s hostility to the relationship, Diana’s prospect of exile, and the social ostracism she would face if she married Dodi.”

DIANA AND DODI AT THE RITZ

Before Diana and Dodi departed the Villa Windsor sometime after 16 hrs, General, one of Dodi’s bodyguards Trevor Rees-Jones furtively asked Diana as to what the programme for the evening was. This Trevor did out of sheer desperation as Dodi had ceased and desisted from telling members of his security detail, let alone anyone else for that matter, what his onward destination was for fear that that piece of information would be passed on to the paparazzi. Diana kindly obliged Trevor though her response was terse and scarcely revealing. “Well, eventually we will be going out to a restaurant”, that was all Diana said. Without advance knowledge of exactly what restaurant that was, Trevor and his colleagues’ hands were tied: they could not do a recce on it as was standard practice for the security team of a VIP principal.  Dodi certainly, General, was being recklessly by throwing such caution to the winds.

At about 16:30, Diana and Dodi drew up at the Ritz Hotel, where they were received by acting hotel manager Claude Roulet.  The front entrance of the hotel was already crawling with paparazzi, as a result of which the couple took the precaution of using the rear entrance, where hopefully they would make their entry unperturbed and unmolested. The first thing they did when they were ensconced in the now $10,000 a night Imperial Suite was to spend some time on their mobiles and set about touching base with friends, relations, and associates.  Diana called at least two people, her clairvoyant friend Rita Rogers and her favourite journalist Richard Kay of The Daily Mail.

Rita, General,  was alarmed that Diana had proceeded to venture to Paris notwithstanding the warning she had given Dodi and herself in relation to what she had seen of him  in the crystal ball when the couple had consulted her. When quizzed as to what the hell she indeed was doing in Paris at that juncture, Diana replied that she and Dodi had simply come to do some shopping, which though partially true was not the material reason they were there. “But Diana, remember what I told Dodi,” Rita said somewhat reprovingly. Diana a bit apprehensively replied, “Yes I remember. I will be careful. I promise.” Well,  she did not live up to her promise as we shall soon unpack General.

As for Richard Kay, Diana made known to him that, “I have decided I am going to radically change my life. I am going to complete my obligations to charities and to the anti-personnel land mines cause, but in November I want to completely withdraw from formal public life.”

Once she was done with her round of calls, Diana went down to the hair saloon by the hotel swimming pool to have her hair washed and blow-dried ahead of the scheduled evening dinner.

THE “TELL ME YES” RING IS DELIVERED

Since the main object of their Paris trip was to pick up the “Tell Me Yes” engagement ring  Dodi had ordered in Monte Carlo a week earlier, Dodi decided to check on Repossi Jewellery, which was right within the Ritz prencincts, known as the Place Vendome.  It could have taken less than a minute for Dodi to get to the store on foot but he decided to use a car to outsmart the paparazzi invasion. He was driven there by Trevor Rees-Jones, with Alexander Kez Wingfield and Claude Roulet following on foot, though he entered the shop alone.

The Repossi store had closed for the holiday season but Alberto Repossi, accompanied by his wife and brother-in-law,  had decided to travel all the way from his home in Monaco  and momentarily open it for the sake of the potentially highly lucrative  Dodi transaction.  Alberto, however, disappointed Dodi as the ring he had chosen was not the one  he produced. The one he showed Dodi was pricier and perhaps more exquisite but Dodi  was adamant that he wanted the exact one he had ordered as that was what Diana herself had picked. It was a ploy  on the part of Repossi to make a real killing on the sale, his excuse to that effect being that Diana deserved a ring tha was well worthy of her social pedigree.  With Dodi having expressed disaffection, Repossi rendered his apologies and assured Dodi he would make the right ring available shortly, whereupon Dodi repaired back to the hotel to await its delivery. But Dodi  did insist nonetheless that the pricier ring be delivered too in case it appealed to Diana anyway.

Repossi delivered the two rings an hour later. They were collected by Roulet. On inspecting them, Dodi chose the very one he had seen in Monte Carlo, apparently at the insistence of Diana.  There is a possibility that Diana, who was very much aware of her public image and was not comfortable with ostentatious displays of wealth, may have deliberately shown an interest in a less expensive engagement ring. It  may have been a purely romantic as opposed to a prestigious  choice for her.

The value of the ring, which was found on a wardrobe shelf in Dodi’s apartment after the crash,  has been estimated to be between $20,000 and $250,000 as Repossi has always refused to be drawn into revealing how much Dodi paid for it. The sum, which enjoyed a 25 percent discount, was in truth paid for not by Dodi himself but by his father as was the usual practice.

Dodi was also shown Repossi’s sketches for a bracelet, a watch, and earrings which he proposed to create if Diana approved of them.

DIANA AND DODI GUSH OVER IMMINENT NUPTIALS

At about 7 pm,  Dodi and Diana left the Ritz and headed for Dodi’s apartment at a place known as the Arc de Trompe. They went there to properly tog themselves out for the scheduled evening dinner. They spent two hours at the luxurious apartment. As usual, the ubiquitous paparazzi were patiently waiting for them there.

As they lingered in the apartment, Dodi beckoned over to his butler Rene Delorm  and showed him  the engagement ring. “Dodi came into my kitchen,” Delorm relates. “He looked into the hallway to check that Diana couldn’t hear and reached into his pocket and pulled out the box 
 He said, ‘Rene, I’m going to propose to the princess tonight. Make sure that we have champagne on ice when we come back from dinner’.” Rene described the ring as “a spectacular diamond encrusted ring, a massive emerald surrounded by a cluster of diamonds, set on a yellow and white gold band sitting in a small light-grey velvet box”.

Just before 9 pm, Dodi called the brother of his step-father, Hassan Yassen, who also was staying at the Ritz  that night, and told him that he hoped to get married to Diana by the end of the year.

Later that same evening, both Dodi and Diana would talk to Mohamed Al Fayed, Dodi’s dad, and make known to him their pre-nuptial intentions. “They called me and said we’re coming back  (to London) on Sunday (August 31) and on Monday (September 1) they are

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RAMADAN – The Blessed Month of Fasting

28th March 2023

Ramadan is the fasting month for Muslims, where over one billion Muslims throughout the world fast from dawn to sunset, and pray additional prayers at night. It is a time for inner reflection, devotion to Allah, and self-control. It is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. As you read this Muslims the world over have already begun fasting as the month of Ramadan has commenced (depending on the sighting of the new moon).

‘The month of Ramadan is that in which the Qur’an was revealed as guidance for people, in it are clear signs of guidance and Criterion, therefore whoever of you who witnesses this month, it is obligatory on him to fast it. But whoever is ill or traveling let him fast the same number of other days, God desires ease for you and not hardship, and He desires that you complete the ordained period and glorify God for His guidance to you, that you may be grateful”. Holy Qur’an  (2 : 185)

Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars upon which the structure of Islam is built. The other four are: the declaration of one’s belief in Allah’s oneness and in the message of Muhammad (PBUH); regular attendance to prayer; payment of zakaat (obligatory charity); and the pilgrimage to Mecca.

As explained in an earlier article, fasting includes total abstinence from eating, drinking, smoking, refraining from obscenity, avoiding getting into arguments and including abstaining from marital relations, from sunrise to sunset. While fasting may appear to some as difficult Muslims see it as an opportunity to get closer to their Lord, a chance to develop spiritually and at the same time the act of fasting builds character, discipline and self-restraint.

Just as our cars require servicing at regular intervals, so do Muslims consider Ramadan as a month in which the body and spirit undergoes as it were a ‘full service’. This ‘service’ includes heightened spiritual awareness both the mental and physical aspects and also the body undergoing a process of detoxification and some of the organs get to ‘rest’ through fasting.

Because of the intensive devotional activity fasting, Ramadan has a particularly high importance, derived from its very personal nature as an act of worship but there is nothing to stop anyone from privately violating Allah’s commandment of fasting if one chooses to do so by claiming to be fasting yet eating on the sly. This means that although fasting is obligatory, its observance is purely voluntary. If a person claims to be a Muslim, he is expected to fast in Ramadan.

 

The reward Allah gives for proper fasting is very generous. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) quotes Allah as saying: “All actions done by a human being are his own except fasting, which belongs to Me and I will reward it accordingly.” We are also told by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that the reward for proper fasting is admittance into heaven.

Fasting earns great reward when it is done in a ‘proper’ manner. This is because every Muslim is required to make his worship perfect. For example perfection of fasting can be achieved through restraint of one’s feelings and emotions. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said that when fasting, a person should not allow himself to be drawn into a quarrel or a slanging match. He teaches us: “On a day of fasting, let no one of you indulge in any obscenity, or enter into a slanging match. Should someone abuse or fight him, let him respond by saying: ‘I am fasting!’”

This high standard of self-restraint fits in well with fasting, which is considered as an act of self-discipline. Islam requires us to couple patience with voluntary abstention from indulgence in our physical desires. The purpose of fasting helps man to attain a high degree of sublimity, discipline and self-restraint. In other words, this standard CAN BE achieved by every Muslim who knows the purpose of fasting and strives to fulfill it.

Fasting has another special aspect. It makes all people share in the feelings of hunger and thirst. In normal circumstances, people with decent income may go from one year’s end to another without experiencing the pangs of hunger which a poor person may feel every day of his life. Such an experience helps to draw the rich one’s conscience nearer to needs of the poor. A Muslim is encouraged to be more charitable and learns to give generously for a good cause.

Fasting also has a universal or communal aspect to it. As Muslims throughout the world share in this blessed act of worship, their sense of unity is enhanced by the fact that every Muslim individual joins willingly in the fulfillment of this divine commandment. This is a unity of action and purpose, since they all fast in order to be better human beings. As a person restrains himself from the things he desires most, in the hope that he will earn Allah’s pleasure, self-discipline and sacrifice become part of his nature.

The month of Ramadan can aptly be described as a “season of worship.” Fasting is the main aspect of worship in this month, because people are more attentive to their prayers, read the Qur’an more frequently and also strive to improve on their inner and outer character. Thus, their devotion is more complete and they feel much happier in Ramadan because they feel themselves to be closer to their Creator.

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