The Death of Sharari

My last meeting with ‘Ajib was exactly two weeks after the famous joyrider Mish‘al al-Sharari died in a drifting accident. This meeting was supposed to be our first face-to-face encounter. Until then ‘Ajib and I had met only with other drifters, supporters, and Rakan. I wished to negotiate a recorded interview, and I thought it more appropriate to see him alone. A few hours before our meeting, however, I inexplicably changed my mind and decided to go with a European colleague of mine who was visiting for a week. ‘Ajib also came with a silent youth in tow, whom he introduced as his cousin.

This was a serious blunder. As a result of my willingness to show that I was not alone in studying the Arabian Peninsula, we never recorded the interview. Probably scared off by the presence of not one but two awkward foreigners saying they were scientists, ‘Ajib evaporated after this last conversation. However hard I tried to find him, calling him and his friends or begging Rakan for help, I didn't succeed: he had definitely cut all ties. I met him by chance a last time, as I was leaving the country – and never saw him again after that.