The Druze locality of Hadr in Quneitra province on the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights has offered a large number of 'martyrs' during the war in Syria. One of those 'martyrs' is Sultan Nadhir Zaydan (Abu Ward). He is also known as Sultan Nadhir Wahbi, because 'Wahbi' is written on the personal ID card but the original family name is Zaydan. I will relate some details of his life below.
Sultan's father died when he was only three years old, so his mother raised him and his brother and sister and she took on much burden to raise them so they could be youth who could be relied upon. Sultan himself eventually left education on account of financial constraints and became a barber by profession, working as a barber in the al-Tadhamun and Jaramana areas of Damascus. He was known for his merry spirit and sociable and joking nature. In the hope of improving their prospects, the family had sold a piece of land and bought a car prior to the outbreak of the war.
But whatever aspirations the family had prior to the war were frustrated by the war. Sultan eventually sold the car and joined the ranks of the auxiliary forces in 2012. On one account, he had joined the ranks of the National Defence Forces. The other account is that he joined auxiliary forces affiliated with the air intelligence, whose rights and salaries were secured by the al-Bustan Association: a joint initiative that has come to be called Dir' al-Watan.
In any case, Sultan fought on a variety of fronts, including al-Tadhamun, Moa'adhamiya al-Sham, Bayt Sahm, Aqraba and Jobar. He then died in the battle to recapture the historic Christian town of Ma'aloula in September 2013. His companions in his group (who called him 'al-shabh'- 'the ghost') narrate that they advanced much during the battle and Sultan was carrying a machine gun and was going before them, but then they became besieged between escarpments. Sultan was wounded in his leg and urged his companions to withdraw without him, saying that he would provide cover for them as he could no longer walk, and so they should retreat by themselves. But his companions rejected this and said they should die or withdraw together. Sultan continued to suffer from hs wound and bleed for a time but he kept on fighting until he was killed by a bullet that struck his neck and died instantly. His companions remained by his side even as they were besieged until the following day (15 September 2013), when the forces of the army, auxiliary forces and the asdiqa' ('friends'- foreign allies of the Syrian government) with powerful air and artillery support managed to recapture the Ma'aloula area and Sultan's body was recovered.
Sultan was buried with full honours in his native locality of Hadr. He was married and had one child: a boy called Ward.