I lit a candle for our friend Sofian Hijjawi, who passed away one year ago on the 2nd of January 2008.
He was a designer, a rebel, an irreverent critic, a funny story teller, a small package of amazing vibrancy and a friend of many.
He is best remembered by me by his funny stories and unexpected gestures. When my third son Sinan was born, he came to our house with a small sack of rice, true to Palestinian tradition! You never forget a gift like that.
The photo on the screen behind the candle in the background has a story.
In November 2007, I met Sofian and his partner Annie at the American University of Dubai for an event on Arab typography. As we where leaving, we started making funny remarks at the University’s fake classical architecture.
Then Sofian insisted I take a photo of him running towards the buildings. He dashed off and I snapped a blurry photo..
He joked and said he’s running towards science and knowledge. 
It was the last the last photo I took of him.
He’ll always be remembered with a smile.
Comments
5 responses to “Remembering Sofian”
Thanks for this post Ahmad. He surely was fun to be with, warm and loving. And yes, he will always be remembered with a smile
his soul to rest in peace
Allah yer7amo…
You really made us miss him, like we knew him in his life
but somehow, thats life, and we have to live with it…
Peace,
Malik
Ya Allah! It sure is shocking to know about someone’s death after one year, especially that I tried to get back in touch a few months ago out of the blue.
I knew nothing about his death, but since he was my first mentor in the design field, even though I worked under his guidance for only a couple of months, but that was my first experience of work right after graduation, which was an eye opener for me.
Such people in one’s life leave a big mark, even though it was a short period, but I always felt grateful to him, and can vividly remember some of his advices.
He definitely was a lot of fun, and his sarcasm was hilarious, especially when it concerned my ex-boss then, whom Sofian was helping out with his new start-up company.
Allah yir7amoh, wo ye3fi 3annoh.
Thanks Ahmad for sharing this.
انّا لله و انّا اليه راجعون
I learned of Sofian’s death 10 minutes ago as i have lost touch with him and all the gang i used to hang out with. The last time we met was in media city immigration building when he told me that he was searching for buyers for his company as he wanted to immigrate with anny to canada. Sofian was one of the funniest people i have met in my life and we mostly laughed while talking. I am now in a state of shock because it occured to me how someone you like so much passes away and the news reaches you 1and half year later.
May God bless your soul Sofian and the next time we meet you would better be the same funny guy.