Mandela was sentenced to life in prison for his fight against white-minority rule over the black majority. He rejoined society 27 years later, having won renown as the world's most famous prisoner. Nobody knew how he was going to use his power.

Eleven years later, he holds a very special place in the hearts of people worldwide.

Even some of his worst enemies of the past adore him. His clansmen in the rural village of his birth used to respectfully call him Madiba;today he is affectionately called this by just about everybody.

White-owned newspapers that once supported the regime that nearly hanged him now carry detailed reports on his medical check-ups and gently remind him that he is 82 years old and should slow down.

Attitudes toward Mandela reflect the magnitude of South Africa's retreat from the edge of civil war to a free-market democracy, a democracy that is now taking the lead in trying to bring peace, political stability, and economic progress to the rest of Africa.

The country itself is still plagued by poverty, illiteracy, and disease, and racial incidents still occur. Since Mandela left the presidency two years ago a worrying nastiness has been creeping into exchanges between the predominantly black ruling party and its predominantly white opposition.

Mandela seldom interferes, but his looming presence and quiet admonitions and encouragement have the desired effect. He remains the icon of righteousness, and the qualities that make him so keep serving as a guiding light to others.

Forgiveness lends him power. Mandela hosted a tea party for the widows of the white prime ministers who kept him in jail for 27 years and who advocated segregation. They were charmed.

He ate lunch with the man who prosecuted him in 1964, pleading with the judge to hang Mandela. After the meal the prosecutor called Mandela a "saintly man."

When a cartoon appeared recently depicting Mandela as a gorilla, his admirers were incensed and government promised retribution, but Mandela brought merry laughter when he told his audience at the end of his speech: "I thank you also on behalf of the gorilla."

"He has gone from the world's most famous political prisoner to its most loved political leader," remarked Bridgette Mabandla, the deputy minister of arts and culture, at the dedication of a monument to Mandela in his home village.

The monument has a stone tablet which carries his statement to court in 1964 before he was sentenced for high treason: "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination.

"I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal I hope to live for and achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

Over the past eleven years people have come to appreciate deeply the indomitable will and magnanimous spirit behind that statement. Even at 82, Mandela keeps living up to his words through his international mediation missions and his ceaseless charitable work at home.