Over 20 Arabs were killed in the Istanbul attack, here are their stories

When an attack hits home and takes away people you know dearly ... it cracks your heart in ways you didn't know were possible. 

Thirty-nine people were killed in Istanbul's Reina night club on New Years Eve. Of the dead, at least 22 hailed from the Arab world, according to media reports. 

Nationals from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Kuwait, Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Libya perished in the attack.

Disclaimer: Only some of these stories were made public.

Seven Saudi nationals were among the 39 dead.

Four Saudi women and three men were killed in the attack. At least nine others were injured.

A 26-year-old Saudi lawyer, Shahad Samman, was among those who died that night. 

Samman sent her last messages on Snapchat, where she wished her followers a happy new year. 

“Soon we will embark on a new beginning, in a new chapter," she wrote.

Samman's brother, Sulaimain Samman, spoke to Al Arabiya, explaining that his sister was at the Reina restaurant waiting for her uncle and his wife. 

“The streets were crowded so my uncle and his family were running late, escaping death. Terrorism transformed their happiness to sorrow. What did my innocent sister do to deserve this?” he told Al Arabiya. 

Mohammed and Ahmed Saud Al-Fadl, two Saudi twin brothers were also killed in the attack.

The 24-year-old twins were in Istanbul celebrating their university graduation. 

Lubna Ghaznawi, a 34-year-old entrepreneur, also died in the attack. 

Ghaznawi worked as a communication manager for one of the kingdom's largest banks. She also co-owned the startup Exclusave Card, the first student discount card in the kingdom. 

The kingdom lost a "torch of energy", as some of her friends described her. 

"She was an optimist and loved going to new places ... laughter and happiness filled whatever place she went to," Seham al-Zahrani told CNN. 

She will be remembered as beloved sister and close friend.

"A dear sister and loyal friend was among those who died in the terror attack in Istanbul. May God have mercy on your soul Lobna Ghaznawi and may you be in paradise," wrote Louay al-Sharif on Twitter following the attack.

Lebanon lost three citizens during the tragic attack. Six others were injured. 

Elias Wardini, Rita Shami and Haykal Moussallem fell victims to the senseless act of terror.

Their bodies have returned to Lebanon along with five of the six injured Lebanese nationals, including Melissa Papalardo, Nidal Bsherrawi, Francois al-Asmar, Nasser Beshara and Jihad Abdul Khaleq.

Elias Wardini was more than just a personal trainer at Fitness Zone. He was a brother, a son, a fiancé. 

Wardini posted a photo on Instagram with another victim, Rita Chami, just hours before he died. 

Members of Fitness Zone helped carry Wardini's casket during the funeral in Lebanon. 

Haykal Moussallem was an ATP personal trainer, Tadamon fitness trainer and the Lebanese 100 meter champion. 

Moussallem also used to do long jump, representing Lebanon at the Arab Games and the Asian Championship before an injury brought his career to a halt.  

But, that didn't stop him. He opened up his own Sports Center “Athletics Training Performance” in Kaslik.

Mousallem was all that ... on top of being a husband. He got married 6 months ago, and his wife Mireille Khoury survived the attack. 

Months ago, Rita Chami gave up her Radio TV studies to stay with her mother who had been battling with cancer. She lost her mother to the illness, and now Lebanon has lost Chami to terrorism.

But while Lebanon mourned, some have also criticized how the media sensationalized the grief of affected families.

"Fewer things are as tragic as this: to fall victim to acts of terror, to have your death be analyzed a hundred thousand times fold, to be called a 'martyr' in an attempt to normalize the horror to which Elias, Rita and Haykal were victims," Elie Fares, the blogger behind A Separate State of Mind, wrote.

Jordan's Foreign Ministry confirmed that two Jordanians died in the attack. Six others were injured.

Nawras Assaf and Mohammad Al Sarraf were in Turkey with their wives for a fun NYE getaway. 

"All they wanted is to have fun away from work," a relative of Assad told The Jordan Times. 

The men's wives were injured, with one currently in very critical condition. 

Assaf was a father of three and the owner of Visa Vis Cafe and Deir El Qamar restaurant. 

Sarraf was also a businessman, the founder of the Mahdi Group of Companies. 

Three nationals from Iraq, two from Tunisia, two from Morocco, one from Kuwait, one from Palestine, one from Syria and one from Libya were also killed in the tragic incident.

We could not obtain information about these individuals. 

May their souls rest in peace.