Greetings and peace to my esteemed cousins. I am from Lebanon; I was born in steadfast Beirut and grew up in the alleys and neighborhoods of Tariq Al-Jadidah. During my work in sports journalism, I met a colleague at Al-Watan Al-Riyadi magazine who was from our family. He was an Air Force lieutenant colonel in dear Syria and had also served at its embassy in Germany. He told me the following account, which I will recount here in this article:

Our family originates from the Maghreb region. Its men were strong sons of the desert. The kings and rulers of North Africa—known as the Almoravids, from present-day Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya—relied upon these men for their security because of their loyalty and devotion to duty. They even drew them close in order to benefit from their counsel and opinions.

It so happened that a conflict arose between two brothers from the Dalati family, and blood was shed. To prevent vengeance, the ruler ordered one of them and his family to leave the region and head toward the frontier posts where Muslims defended against the Crusaders and defeated their fleets. Over time, their descendants spread along the shores of the Mediterranean—passing through Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey. Today, with the expansion of civilization, they are to be found in even more distant places.

Mohammad Mahmoud Al-Dalati
2009-08-23