Zainab Khalif
Deir ez-Zor - Azhiyah Al-Aqleh has spent a full century among fields of wheat, barley, and cotton. She never knew laziness or weariness. Instead, she became a symbol of the rural woman whose life is tied to the land - seeing in it her dignity and the secret of her endurance. She stands as a living emblem of a generation of women who wove, with the threads of hard work, the most beautiful tales of simplicity and giving.

Sitting in front of her house, time having drawn the marks of fatigue upon her face, she says in a voice filled with memories:
“We used to harvest the crops, pick cotton, milk the cows, and churn the yogurt to make ghee. We did everything with our own hands. We didn’t know rest, but we were happy with what we had.”

She speaks with the spontaneity of a mother who lived in another time, describing how the women used to gather during the harvest season:
“We would sing as we harvested, working with joy that never knew fatigue. The days passed quickly, full of blessing and contentment.”
Azhiyah recalls the details of traditional farming as if she were seeing them before her eyes:“We used to plant wheat, barley, and cotton with our own hands - women and men together. There were no machines or tractors; we relied on determination. We planted, watered, and waited for rain. Farming brought us together - we cooperated and shared everything.”
She believes that farming was not merely a livelihood, but a way of life and a means of building social bonds:
“If one of us planted her land, we all helped her - planting, harvesting, and rejoicing in the blessings together. No one worked alone; our work united us, and contentment blessed our efforts.”

Collective Work
Reflecting on the past with tearful eyes, Azhiyah says: “We used to help one another in everything - from preparing food to churning milk and melting ghee. Life wasn’t easy, but it was full of love. Today, everything has changed; everyone is busy with themselves, and that spirit of togetherness is gone.”

She notes that collective work was a school of patience and generosity, and that women in the past were the backbone of rural society: “Each woman knew her role, and we completed one another. The burden felt lighter when shared, and the joy was greater when we harvested together.”

Tattoos on the Face… Symbols on the Memory
Her face still bears ancient tattoos - once symbols of beauty and identity. She says with a proud smile: “We used to put these tattoos as adornment and as an expression of feminine pride and belonging. Women would place them on their cheeks or chin, and each design had its meaning. Today, people see them as strange, but to me, they are unforgettable memories. These marks were not just decoration; they were expressions of a generation that found pride in simplicity and valued natural beauty.”

From the Time of Simplicity to the Time of Change
Azhiyah sighs as she compares the past to the present: “We lived with little, but it was blessed. Our toil filled us with joy because we earned our bread with our own sweat. Today, life is easier but tasteless. Everything is ready-made, even happiness feels incomplete.”
Despite her frailty and advanced age, she still visits her land every day, touching the soil as if she were touching her heart: “The land never betrays those who love it. Every time I touch it, I feel that I’m still alive.”
And her message to the younger generations is clear: “Hold on to the land — it is your origin. Don’t abandon it or trade it for comfort. Work is life, and laziness is a slow death. Our labor taught us contentment, and contentment is the secret of long life.”

The Memory of Place and the Spirit of Time
Azhiyah Hammoud Al-Aqleh represents a living memory of Hajin and the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor. She belongs to a generation that lived in simplicity, planting values in the soil as they planted wheat in the ground.
She is not merely a woman who has surpassed a hundred years of age, but a symbol of a generation of women who built life through patience and faith - carrying on their shoulders the burdens of family, land, and community.
From the wrinkles on her face emerge old tales, and from the tone of her voice flows the wisdom of years - as if she were telling the world: simplicity is not poverty, and contentment and work are the secrets of dignity and long life.
Her story is that of a woman undefeated by time — a woman who, like her land, remains patient, fertile, and faithful until the very end.