Why this book?
I decided to compile these lines between the covers of a book after I sensed our dire need for motivating and inspiring success stories, for contemporary examples to emulate. Anyone browsing the shelves of our Arab libraries will find many imported success stories, bred in environments different from our own, and in surroundings different from our own, which diminishes their impact and effectiveness. I decided to present these distinguished Saudi figures to you, so that they may contribute, even if only slightly, to sharpening our resolve and strengthening our inner confidence. The successful individuals I have selected from across our beloved homeland were not raised in Boston, USA, Tokyo, Japan, or Amsterdam, Netherlands. Rather, they grew up in the Kingdom, achieved varying degrees of success, studied in the same classrooms as us, and lived in homes similar to ours. On a personal level, I have been influenced by many of the people I have met and written about in this book:
Like Umm Abdulhadi Al-Marri, a school sweeper at the Fourteenth Elementary School in Jubail, now a sixty-year-old student at the College of Education in Khafji. She swept classrooms with one hand and swept away her ignorance with the other, continuing her education under difficult circumstances and amidst a challenging environment. She had a son and a daughter to raise and care for.
I was deeply moved by the struggles of my friend Sanu Sharahili, a person with special needs. He used to crawl to his school in the village of Al-Khaqaqa in the Al-Harith Governorate of the Jazan region, about a kilometer and a half from his home, because his father was unable to provide him with a wheelchair at the time. Now, he is racing to achieve his dream of obtaining a doctorate in international dispute management in Britain.
I was amazed by Batal Al-Qaws, who, through his struggles and talent, managed to break through the rock and become one of the highest-paid Saudi broadcasters.

Al-Obeikan Publishing