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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3754128 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63928 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63928) diff --git a/old/63928-0.txt b/old/63928-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6b1b28b..0000000 --- a/old/63928-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,16851 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Arabia: The Cradle of Islam, by S. M. Zwemer - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Arabia: The Cradle of Islam - -Author: S. M. Zwemer - -Release Date: December 1, 2020 [EBook #63928] -[Last updated: December 13, 2020] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARABIA: THE CRADLE OF ISLAM *** - - - - -Produced by Michael Ciesielski, Les Galloway and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes - -Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations -in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other -spelling and punctuation remains unchanged. - -The structure of some tables has been modified to improve legibility -within page width. - -Footnotes are located at the end of the book. - -Italics are represented thus _italic_, and bold thus =bold=. - - - - - Arabia: The Cradle of Islam - - - - -[Illustration: A TYPICAL ARAB OF YEMEN] - - - - - Arabia: The Cradle - of Islam - - Studies in the Geography, People and - Politics of the Peninsula with an - account of Islam and Mission-work. - - REV. S. M. ZWEMER, F.R.G.S. - - INTRODUCTION BY - REV. JAMES S. DENNIS, D.D. - - EDINBURGH AND LONDON - Oliphant Anderson and Ferrier - 1900 - - - - - Printed by - THE CAXTON PRESS - 171-173 Macdougal St. - New York, U.S.A. - - - - - DEDICATED - - TO - - _The “Student Volunteers” of America_ - - IN MEMORY OF - - THE TWO AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS WHO LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES FOR ARABIA - - PETER J. ZWEMER - - AND - - GEORGE E. STONE - - - - - And Jesus said unto him: This day is salvation come to this house, - forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man is come - to seek and to save that which was lost.—LUKE xix. 9, 10. - - - - - Introductory Note - - -The author of this instructive volume is in the direct line of -missionary pioneers to the Moslem world. He follows Raymond Lull, Henry -Martyn, Ion Keith-Falconer, and Bishop French, and, with his friend -and comrade the Rev. James Cantine, now stands in the shining line of -succession at the close of a decade of patient and brave service at -that lonely outpost on the shores of the Persian Gulf. Others have -followed in their footsteps, until the Arabian Mission, the adopted -child of the Reformed Church in America, is at present a compact and -resolute group of men and women at the gates of Arabia, waiting on -God’s will, and intent first of all upon fulfilling in the spirit of -obedience to the Master the duty assigned them. - -These ten years of quiet, unflinching service have been full of prayer, -observation, study, and wistful survey of the great task, while at the -same time every opportunity has been improved to gain a foothold, to -plant a standard, to overcome a prejudice, to sow a seed, and to win a -soul. The fruits of this intelligent and conscientious effort to grasp -the situation and plan the campaign are given to us in this valuable -study of “Arabia, the Cradle of Islam.” It is a missionary contribution -to our knowledge of the world. The author is entirely familiar with -the literature of his subject. English, German, French, and Dutch -authorities are at his command. The less accessible Arabic authors are -easily within his reach, and he brings from those mysterious gardens of -spices into his clear, straightforward narrative, the local coloring -and fragrance, as well as the indisputable witness of original medieval -sources. The ethnological, geographical, archaeological, commercial, -and political information of the descriptive chapters brings to our -hands a valuable and readable summary of facts, in a form which is -highly useful, and will be sure to quicken an intelligent interest in -one of the great religious and international problems of our times. - -His study of Islam is from the missionary standpoint, but this does -not necessarily mean that it is unfair, or unhistorical, or lacking in -scholarly acumen. Purely scientific and academic study of an ethnic -religion is one method of approaching it. It can thus be classified, -labelled, and put upon the shelf in the historical museum of the -world’s religions, and the result has a value which none will dispute. -This, however, is not the only, or indeed the most serviceable, way of -examining, estimating and passing a final judgment upon a religious -system. Such study must be comparative, it must have some standard of -value; it must not discard acknowledged tests of excellence; it must -make use of certain measurements of capacity and power; it must be -pursued in the light of practical ethics, and be in harmony with the -great fundamental laws of religious experience and spiritual progress -which have controlled thus far the regenerative processes of human -development. - -The missionary in forming his final judgment inevitably compares the -religion he studies with the religion he teaches. He need not do this -in any unkind, or bitter, or abusive spirit. On the contrary, he -may do it with a supreme desire to uncover delusion, and make clear -the truth as it has been given to him by the Great Teacher. He may -make a generous and sympathetic allowance for the influence of local -environment, he may trace in an historic spirit the natural evolution -of a religious system, he may give all due credit to every worthy -element and every pleasing characteristic therein, he may regard its -symbols with respect, and also with all charity and consideration the -leaders and guides whom the people reverence; yet his own judgment -may still be inflexible, his own allegiance unfaltering, and he may -feel it to be his duty to put into plain, direct, and vigorous prose -his irreversible verdict that Christianity being true, Islam is not, -Buddhism is not, Hinduism is not. - -There he stands; he is not afraid of the issue. His Master is the one -supreme and infallible judge, who can pronounce an unerring verdict -concerning the truth of any religion. He has ventured to bear witness -to the truth which his Master has taught him. Let no one lightly -question the value of the contribution he makes to the comparative -study of religion. - -The spirit in which our author has written of Islam is marked by -fairness, sobriety, and discrimination, and yet there is no mistaking -the verdict of one who speaks with an authority which is based upon -exceptional opportunities of observation, close study of literary -sources and moral results, and undoubted honesty of purpose. - -It may not be out of place to note the hearty, outspoken satisfaction -with which the author regards the extension of British authority -over the long sweep of the Arabian coast line. His admiration and -delight can only be fully understood by one who has been a resident -in the East, and has felt the blight of Moslem rule, and its utter -hopelessness as an instrument of progress. - -Let this book have its hour of quiet opportunity, and it will broaden -our vision, enlarge our knowledge, and deepen our interest in themes -which will never lose their hold upon the attention of thoughtful men. - - JAMES S. DENNIS. - - - - - Preface - - -There are indications that Arabia will not always remain in its long -patriarchal sleep and that there is a future in store for the Arab. -Politics, civilization and missions have all begun to touch the hem of -the peninsula and it seems that soon there will be one more land—or -at least portions of it—to add to “the white man’s burden.” History -is making in the Persian Gulf, and Yemen will not forever remain, -a tempting prize,—untouched. The spiritual burden of Arabia is the -Mohammedan religion and it is in its cradle we can best see the fruits -of Islam. We have sought to trace the spiritual as well as the physical -geography of Arabia by showing how Islam grew out of the earlier -Judaism, Sabeanism and Christianity. - -The purpose of this book is especially to call attention to Arabia -and the need of missionary work for the Arabs. There is no dearth of -literature on Arabia, the Arabs and Islam, but most of the books on -Arabia are antiquated or inaccessible to the ordinary reader; some -of the best are out of print. The only modern work in English, which -gives a general idea of the whole peninsula is Bayard Taylor’s somewhat -juvenile “_Travels in Arabia_.” In German there is the scholarly -compilation of Albrecht Zehm, “_Arabie und die Araber, seit hundert -jahren_,” which is generally accurate, but is rather dull reading and -has neither illustrations nor maps. From the missionary standpoint -there are no books on Arabia save the biographies of Keith-Falconer, -Bishop French and Kamil Abdul-Messiah. - -This fact together with the friends of the author urged their united -plea for a book on this “Neglected Peninsula,” its people, religion -and missions. We have written from a missionary viewpoint, so that -the book has certain features which are intended specially for those -who are interested in the missionary enterprise. But that enterprise -has now so large a place in modern thought that no student of secular -history can afford to remain in ignorance of its movements. - -Some of the chapters are necessarily based largely on the books by -other travellers, but if any object to quotation marks, we would remind -them that Emerson’s writings are said to contain three thousand three -hundred and ninety three quotations from eight hundred and sixty-eight -individuals! The material for the book was collected during nine years -of residence in Arabia. It was for the most part put into its present -form at Bahrein during the summer of 1899, in the midst of many outside -duties and distractions. - -I wish especially to acknowledge my indebtedness to W. A. Buchanan, -Esq., of London, who gave the initiative for the preparation of this -volume and to my friend Mr. D. L. Pierson who has generously undertaken -the entire oversight of its publication. - -The system for the spelling of Arabic names in the text follows in -general that of the Royal Geographical Society. This system consists, -in brief, in three rules: (1) words made familiar by long usage remain -unchanged; (2) vowels are pronounced as in Italian and consonants as in -English; (3) no redundant letters are written and all those written are -pronounced. - -We send these chapters on their errand, and hope that especially the -later ones may reach the hearts of the Student Volunteers for foreign -missions to whom they are dedicated; we pray also that the number -of those who love the Arabs and labor for their enlightenment and -redemption may increase. - - S. M. ZWEMER. - - _Bahrein, Arabia._ - - - - - Table of Contents - - - PAGE - I - - THE NEGLECTED PENINSULA 17 - - Arabia the centre of Moslem world—Its boundaries—The coast—Physical - characteristics—Climate—Water-supply—Geology—The - Wadys—Mountains—Deserts. - - II - - THE GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS OF ARABIA 25 - - Natural divisions—Provinces—Political geography—Important - flora and fauna—Population. - - III - - THE HOLY LAND OF ARABIA—MECCA 30 - - Its boundaries—Sacredness—European travellers—Jiddah—Its - bombardment—The pilgrimage—Mecca—Its location—Water-supply—Governor—The - Kaaba—The Black Stone—Zemzem—Duty of pilgrimage—The pilgrims—The - day of sacrifice—The certificate—Character of - Meccans—Temporary marriages—Superstitions—Mishkash—Schools - of Mecca—Course of study. - - IV - - THE HOLY LAND OF ARABIA—MEDINA 45 - - Taif—Heathen idols—The road to Medina—Sanctity of Medina—The - prophet’s mosque—Was Mohammed buried there?—The - five tombs—Prayer for Fatima—Living on the pilgrims—Character - of people—Yanbo—Importance of Mecca to Islam. - - V - - ADEN AND AN INLAND JOURNEY 53 - - The gateways to Arabia Felix—Aden—Its ancient - history—Fortifications—Tanks—Divisions—Population—Journey - inland—Wahat—The vegetation of Yemen—A Turkish custom-house—The - storm in the wady—Taiz—The story of the books. - - VI - - YEMEN: THE SWITZERLAND OF ARABIA 62 - - The Jews of Yemen—From Taiz to Ibb and Yerim—Beauty - of scenery—Climate—Ali’s footprint—Damar—Sana—Commerce - and manufactures—Roda—From Sana to the coast—The - terraces of Yemen—Suk-el Khamis—Menakha—Bajil—Hodeidah. - - VII - - THE UNEXPLORED REGIONS OF HADRAMAUT 72 - - Von Wrede’s travels—Halévy—Mr. and Mrs. Bent’s - journeys—Makalla—Incense-trade—The castles and - palaces—Shibam—Shehr and its ruler—Hadramaut - and the Indian archipelago. - - VIII - - MUSCAT AND THE COASTLANDS OF OMAN 78 - - Boundaries—Population—Government—Muscat—Heat—The - forts—The town—The gardens—Trade—The coast of Oman—The - pirate-coast—The Batina—Sib, Barka, Sohar—From - Muscat to Ras-el-Had—Sur—Carter’s exploration—The Mahrah - and Gharah tribes—Frankincense. - - IX - - THE LAND OF THE CAMEL 88 - - “The mother of the camel”—Importance of the camel to - Arabia—Tradition as to creation—Species—The dromedary—An - illustration of design—Products of the camel—Characteristics—The - interior of Oman—Chief authorities—Fertility—Caravan-routes—Peter - Zwemer’s journey—Jebel Achdar. - - X - - THE PEARL ISLANDS OF THE GULF 97 - - Ancient history of Bahrein—Origin of name—Population—Menamah—The - fresh-water springs—The pearl-fisheries—Superstitions - about pearls—Value and export—Method of diving—Boats—Apparatus—Dangers - to the divers—Mother-of-pearl—Other - manufactures—Ruins at Ali—The climate—Political - history—English protection. - - - XI - - THE EASTERN THRESHOLD OF ARABIA 110 - - The province of Hassa—Katar—The Route inland—Ojeir—Journey - to Hofhoof—The two curses of agriculture—The - capital of Hassa—Plan of the town—Its manufactures—Curious - coinage—The government of Hassa—Katif—Its unhealthfulness. - - XII - - THE RIVER-COUNTRY AND THE DATE-PALM 119 - - The cradle of the race—Boundaries of Mesopotamia—The - Tigris-Euphrates—Meadow lands—The palms—Their - beauty—Fruitfulness—Usefulness—Varieties of dates—Value—Other - products—Population—Provinces and districts—The government. - - XIII - - THE CITIES AND VILLAGES OF TURKISH-ARABIA 128 - - Kuweit—Fao—Aboo Hassib—Busrah—The river navigation—A - journey—Kurna—Ezra’s tomb—Amara—The tomb of the - barber—The arch of Ctesiphon—Bagdad, past and - present—Population—Trade—Kelleks. - - XIV - - A JOURNEY DOWN THE EUPHRATES 136 - - Journey to Hillah—-The route—Kerbela—Down the - Euphrates—Diwaniyeh—The soldier-guard—Amphibious Arabs—Samawa—Ya - Ali, Ya Hassan!—Nasariya—Ur—The end of our - journey—The future of Mesopotamia. - - XV - - THE INTERIOR—KNOWN AND UNKNOWN 143 - - What it includes—Its four divisions—(1) “The empty - quarter”—Ignorance of this part of Arabia—(2) Nejran—The - Dauasir-valley and other wadys—Halévy’s travels—Aflaj—The Roman - expedition to Nejran—(3) Nejd—Its proper limits—The - zephyrs of Nejd—Soil—Vegetation—Animals—The ostrich—The - horse—The chief authorities on this part of Arabia—The - population of Nejd—The character of government—Intercourse - with Mesopotamia—Chief cities—Hail—Riad—(4) - Jebel Shammar—The Bedouin-tribes—Division—Character - and customs—Robbery—Universal poverty. - - - XVI - - “THE TIME OF IGNORANCE” 158 - - Why so-called—The golden age of literature—The influence of - Christianity and Judaism—Tribal constitution of - society—Commerce—Incense—Foreign invasions—Political commotion—The - condition of women—Female infanticide—The veil—Rights - of women—Marriage choice—Polygamy and Polyandry—Two - kinds of marriage—Did Islam elevate woman?—Writing - in “the days of ignorance”—Poetry—Mohammed’s - opinion of poets—The religions—Sabeanism—The Pantheon - at Mecca—Jinn—Totemism—Tattooing—Names of idols—Allah—Decay - of idolatry—The Hanifs. - - XVII - - ISLAM IN ITS CRADLE—THE MOSLEM’S GOD 169 - - Different views—Carlyle—Hugh Broughton—Borrowed elements - of Islam—The God of Islam—Palgrave’s portrait—Attributes - of God—What God is not—Analysis of Islam—Borrowed - elements of Islam. - - XVIII - - THE PROPHET AND HIS BOOK 179 - - The prophet of Islam—Birth of Mohammed—His environment—Factors - that helped to make the man—Political, religious and - family factor—Khadijah—Mohammed’s appearance, mind and - character—His transgression of law—His sensuality—His - murders—Expeditions—Mohammed, as he became through - tradition—His glories, favor and power as an intercessor—How - Moslems regard the Koran—Its character according to - Dr. Post, Goethe and Nöldeke—Its names—Contents—Origin—Recension—Its - beauties—Its defects—Its omissions. - - XIX - - THE WAHABI RULERS AND REFORMERS 191 - - The story of past century—The Wahabis—Character of teaching—The - preacher and the sword—Taking of Mecca and Medina—Kerbela—Mohammed - Ali—The Hejaz campaign—Ghalye—Turkish - cruelty—English expedition—Peace—The - Wahabi dynasty—Abdullah bin Rashid—Rise of Nejd kingdom—Character - of rule—Hail conquers Riad. - - XX - - THE RULERS OF OMAN 202 - - Oman rulers—Seyid Said—Feysul bin Turki—The rebels take - Muscat—Arab warfare—European diplomacy. - - XXI - - THE STORY OF THE TURKS IN ARABIA 206 - - Hejaz—The Sherifs of Mecca—Othman Pasha—Threats to - assassinate him—Turkish troops in Asir—Losses—The conquest - of Yemen—Turkish rule—Rebellions—The rebellion of - 1892—Bagdad, Busrah and Hassa—Taxes—The Turks and - Bedouins—The army—Character of rule. - - XXII - - BRITISH INFLUENCE IN ARABIA 218 - - British possessions—Aden—Socotra—Perim—Kuria Muria - islands—Bahrein—Her naval supremacy—In the Gulf—German - testimony—Survey of coasts—Telegraph and - posts—Slave-trade—Commerce—British India S. N. Co.—Gulf trade—The - rupee—Trade of Aden—Overland railway—Treaties with - tribes—The Trucial League—England in Oman—Aden—Makalla—Method - of “protection”—British consuls and - agents. - - XXIII - - PRESENT POLITICS IN ARABIA 233 - - Hejaz—Future of Yemen—France in Oman—Russia in the Gulf—The - Tigris-Euphrates Valley—The greater kingdom—God’s - providence in history. - - XXIV - - THE ARABIC LANGUAGE 238 - - Wide extent—Its character—Renan’s opinion—The Semitic - family—Their original home—The two theories—Table of the - group—The influence of the Koran on the Arabic language—Koran - Arabic not pure—Origin of alphabet—Cufic—Caligraphy - as an art—Difficulty and beauty of Arabic speech—Its - purity—Literature—Difficulty of pronunciation—Of its grammar—Keith - Falconer’s testimony. - - XXV - - THE LITERATURE OF THE ARABS 251 - - Division of its literature—The seven poems—The Koran—Al - Hariri—Its beauty and variety—Arabic poetry in general—Influence - of Arabic and other languages—English influence - on the Arabic—The Arabic Bible and a Christian literature. - - XXVI - - THE ARAB 258 - - Origin of tribes—Two theories—Yemenite and Maädite—The - caravan routes—Bedouins and townsmen—Clark’s - classification—Genealogies—Tribal names—Character of Arabs—Influence - of neighbors—Their physique—Their - aristocracy—Intolerance—Speech—Oaths—Robbery—Privilege of - sanctuary—Generosity—Blood-revenge—Childhood—Fireside talk—Marriage - among Bedouins—Position of women—Four witnesses—Doughty—Burckhardt—Lady - Ann Blunt—Hurgronje—Woman despised—The kinds of dwelling—Tents - and houses—Dress—The staple foods—Coffee, tobacco and locusts. - - XXVII - - ARABIAN ARTS AND SCIENCES 274 - - Music of the Arabs—War chants—Instruments of music—Songs—Kaseedahs - in Yemen—Mecca chants—Science of _Athar_ and - _Wasm_—Tracking camels—Tribal marks—Medical knowledge - of the Arabs—Diseases—Remedies—A prescription—The - Koran’s panacea—A Mecca M. D.—Amulets—Superstitions. - - XXVIII - - THE STAR-WORSHIPPERS OF MESOPOTAMIA 285 - - Where they live—Their peculiar religion—Their language—Literature—A - prayer-meeting of the Star Worshippers—Strange - ceremonies—The dogmas—Gnostic ideas—Priesthood—Baptisms—Babylonian - origin. - - XXIX - - EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN ARABIA 300 - - Pentecost—Paul’s journey—The Arabs and the Romans—Christian - tribes of the North—Mavia—Naaman’s edict—Christianity - in Yemen—Character of Oriental Christianity—The - Collyridians—Theophilus—Nejran converts—Martyrs—Abraha, - king of Yemen—Marching to Mecca—The defeat—End - of early Christianity—The record of the rocks. - - XXX - - THE DAWN OF MODERN ARABIAN MISSIONS 314 - - Raymond Lull—Henry Martyn—Why the Moslem world was - neglected—Claudius Buchanan’s sermon—The Syrian missions—Doctor - Van Dyck—His Bible translation—Henry - Martyn, the pioneer—His Arabian assistant—Visit to Muscat—His - Arabic version—Anthony N. Groves—Dr. John Wilson of - Bombay—The Bible Society—Opening of doors—Major-General - Haig’s journeys—Arabia open—Dr. and Mrs. Harpur and - the C. M. S.—A call to prayer—Bagdad occupied—The present - work—Missionary journeys to the Jews—William Lethaby - at Kerak—The North Africa mission among the nomads—Samuel - Van Tassel—The Christian Missionary Alliance—Mackay’s - appeal from Uganda—The response. - - XXXI - - ION KEITH FALCONER AND THE ADEN MISSION 331 - - Keith Falconer’s character—Education—At Cambridge—Mission - work—His “eccentricity”—Leipzig and Assiut—How he - came to go to Arabia—His first visit—Plans for the interior—His - second voyage to Aden—Dwelling—Illness—Death—The - influence of his life—The mission at Sheikh Othman. - - XXXII - - BISHOP FRENCH THE VETERAN MISSIONARY TO MUSCAT 344 - - “The most distinguished of all C. M. S. missionaries”—Responds - to Mackay’s appeal—His character—His letters from - Muscat—His plans for the interior—Death—The grave. - - XXXIII - - THE AMERICAN ARABIAN MISSION 353 - - Its origin—The student band—The first plan—Laid before the - church—Organization—The Missionary - Hymn—James Cantine—Syria—Cairo—Aden—Kamil—Journeys of exploration - to the Gulf and Sana—Busrah—Dr. C. E. Riggs—Death of - Kamil—Opposition from government—Home administration—Bahrein - occupied—Lines of work—Muscat—Journey through - Yemen—The mission transferred to the Reformed Church—Troubles - at Muscat and Busrah—Dr. Worrall—Journeys in - Oman—Scripture-sales—First-fruits—Reinforcements. - - XXXIV - - IN MEMORIAM 367 - - Peter John Zwemer—George E. Stone. - - XXXV - - PROBLEMS OF THE ARABIAN FIELD 374 - - The general problem of missions to Moslems—The Arabian - problem—What part of Arabia is accessible—Turkish Arabia—Its - accessibility—Limitations—The accessibility of independent - Arabia—Climate—Moslem fanaticism—English influence—Illiteracy—The - Bedouins—The present missionary - force—Its utter inadequacy—Methods of work—Medical - missions—Schools—Work for women—Colportage—Preaching—Controversy—What - should be its character—The attitude - of the Moslem mind—Fate of converts—Thoughtless and - thoughtful Moslems—The Bible as dynamite—The right men - for the work. - - XXXVI - - THE OUTLOOK FOR MISSIONS TO MOSLEMS 391 - - Two views of work for Moslems—Christian fatalism—Results in - Moslem lands—India—Persia—Constantinople—Sumatra and - Java—Other signs of progress—The significance of persecution—Character - of converts—Promise of God for victory over - Islam—Christ or Mohammed—Missionary promises of the - Old Testament—The Rock of Jesus’ Sonship—Special promises - for Arabia—Hagar and Ishmael—The prayer of Abraham—The - sign of the covenant with Ishmael—The third revelation - of God’s love—The sons of Ishmael—Kedar and Nebaioth—The - promises—Seba and Sheba—The spiritual boundaries of - Arabia—Da Costa’s poem—Faith like Abraham—O that Ishmael - might live before thee. - - APPENDIX I—CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 409 - - ” II—TRIBES OF NORTH ARABIA 413 - - ” III—KAAT AND COFFEE CULTURE IN ARABIA 414 - - ” IV—AN ARABIAN BIBLIOGRAPHY 416 - - INDEX 427 - - - - - List of Illustrations - - - PAGE - - A TYPICAL ARAB OF YEMEN _Frontispiece_ - - VIEW OF MECCA AND THE SACRED MOSQUE - THE REPUTED TOMB OF EVE AT JIDDAH _Facing_ 17 - - MOHAMMEDAN PILGRIMS AT MECCA - THE SACRED WELL OF ZEMZEM AT MECCA ” 30 - - PILGRIMS AROUND THE KAABA IN THE SACRED MOSQUE - AT MECCA ” 34 - - THE MECCA CERTIFICATE—A PASSPORT TO HEAVEN ” 40 - - CHRISTIAN COINS USED AS AN AMULET BY MECCAN WOMEN 43 - - A WOMAN OF MECCA - A MECCAN WOMAN IN HER BRIDAL COSTUME _Facing_ 44 - - TRAVELLING IN SOUTHERN ARABIA - THE KEITH FALCONER MEMORIAL CHURCH IN ADEN ” 56 - - AN ARABIAN COMPASS 71 - - A CASTLE IN HADRAMAUT 77 - - THE HARBOR AND CASTLE AT MUSCAT - READY FOR A CAMEL RIDE IN THE DESERT _Facing_ 80 - - A BRANCH OF THE INCENSE TREE 87 - - TENOOF FROM THE EAST 95 - - THE VILLAGE OF MENAMAH, BAHREIN ISLANDS - A BAHREIN HARBOR BOAT _facing_ 100 - - A DATE ORCHARD NEAR BUSRAH - DATES GROWING ON A DATE-PALM ” 122 - - THE TOMB OF EZRA ON THE TIGRIS RIVER - RUINS OF THE ARCH OF CTESIPHON NEAR BAGDAD ” 132 - - A PUBLIC KHAN IN TURKISH-ARABIA - ARAB PILGRIMS ON BOARD A RIVER STEAMER ” 140 - - FOUR FLAGS THAT RULE ARABIA 217 - - CUFIC CHARACTERS 243 - - MODERN COPYBOOK ARABIC - ORDINARY UNVOWELLED ARABIC WRITING 244 - - MOGREBI ARABIC OF NORTH ARABIA 245 - - PERSIAN STYLE OF WRITING 246 - - TITLE PAGE OF AN ARABIC CHRISTIAN PAPER 257 - - CHURNING BUTTER IN A BEDOUIN CAMP ” 266 - - TRIBAL MARKS OF THE ARABS 279 - - MANAITIC CURSIVE SCRIPT 287 - - PASSAGE FROM THE SACRED BOOK OF THE MANDÆANS 299 - - FACSIMILE COPY OF THE ARABIAN MISSIONARY HYMN 358 - - THE OLD MISSION HOUSE AT BUSRAH - THE KITCHEN OF THE OLD MISSION HOUSE, BUSRAH _Facing_ 360 - - FOUR MISSIONARY MARTYRS OF ARABIA ” 368 - - THE BIBLE SHOP AT BUSRAH - INTERIOR OF A NATIVE SHOP ” 384 - - THE RESCUED SLAVE BOYS AT MUSCAT - THE ARABIAN MISSION HOUSE AT MUSCAT ” 400 - - - * * * * * - - Maps and Diagrams - - PTOLEMY’S ANCIENT MAP OF ARABIA _Facing_ 25 - - ALI BEY’S PLAN OF THE PROPHET’S MOSQUE AT MECCA ” 36 - - PLAN OF THE INTERIOR OF THE HUJRAH AT MEDINA 49 - - MAP OF THE ISLANDS OF BAHREIN 98 - - NEIBUHR’S MAP OF THE PERSIAN GULF _Facing_ 110 - - PALGRAVE’S PLAN OF HOFHOOF 113 - - DIAGRAMS OF MISSIONARY WORK FOR ARABIA 380, 381 - - MODERN MAP OF ARABIA _End of Book._ - -[Illustration: VIEW OF MECCA AND THE SACRED MOSQUE] - -[Illustration: THE REPUTED TOMB OF EVE AT JIDDAH] - - - - - I - - THE NEGLECTED PENINSULA - - “Intersected by sandy deserts and vast ranges of mountains it - presents on one side nothing but desolation in its most frightful - form, while the other is adorned with all the beauties of the most - fertile regions. Such is its position that it enjoys at once all the - advantages of hot and of temperate climates. The peculiar productions - of regions the most distant from one another are produced here in - equal perfection. What Greek and Latin authors mention concerning - Arabia proves by its obscurity their ignorance of almost everything - respecting the Arabs. Prejudices relative to the inconveniences and - dangers of travelling in Arabia have hitherto kept the moderns in - equal ignorance.”—_M. Niebuhr_ (1792). - - -What Jerusalem and Palestine are to Christendom this, and vastly more, -Mecca and Arabia are to the Mohammedan world. Not only is this land -the cradle of their religion and the birthplace of their prophet, -the shrine toward which, for centuries, prayers and pilgrimage -have gravitated; but Arabia is also, according to universal Moslem -tradition, the original home of Adam after the fall and the home of -all the older patriarchs. The story runs that when the primal pair -fell from their estate of bliss in the heavenly paradise, Adam landed -on a mountain in Ceylon and Eve fell at Jiddah, on the western coast -of Arabia. After a hundred years of wandering they met near Mecca, -and here Allah constructed for them a tabernacle, on the site of the -present Kaaba. He put in its foundation the famous stone once whiter -than snow, but since turned black by the sins of pilgrims! In proof of -these statements travellers are shown the Black stone at Mecca and the -tomb of Eve near Jiddah. Another accepted tradition says that Mecca -stands on a spot exactly beneath God’s throne in heaven. - -Without reference to these wild traditions, which are soberly set down -as facts by Moslem historians, Arabia is a land of perpetual interest -to the geographer, and the historian. - -Since Niebuhr’s day many intrepid travellers have surveyed the coasts -and penetrated into the interior, but his charge that we are ignorant -of the real character of the vast peninsula is still true as far as -it relates to the southern and southeastern districts. No traveller -has yet crossed the northern boundary of Hadramaut and explored the -Dahna desert, also called the Roba-el-Khali, or “empty abode.” The vast -territory between the peninsula of Katar and the mountains of Oman is -also practically a blank on the best maps. Indeed the only noteworthy -map of that portion of the peninsula is that of Ptolemy reproduced by -Sprenger in his “Alte Geographie Arabiens.” - -Arabia has well-defined boundaries everywhere except on the north. -Eastward are the waters of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Ormuz and -the Gulf of Oman. The entire southern coast is washed by the Indian -Ocean which reaches to Bab-el-Mandeb “The Gate-of-tears,” from which -point the Red Sea and the Gulf of Akaba form the western boundary. The -undefined northern desert, in some places a sea of sand, completes the -isolation which has led the Arabs themselves to call the peninsula -their “Island” (Jezirat-el-Arab). In fact the northern boundary will -probably never be defined accurately. The so-called “Syrian desert,” -reaching to about the thirty-fifth parallel might better be regarded as -the Arabian desert, for in physical and ethnical features it bears much -greater resemblance to the southern peninsula than to the surrounding -regions of Syria and Mesopotamia. Bagdad is properly an Arabian city -and to the Arabs of the north is as much a part of the peninsula as is -Aden to those of the southwest. The true, though shifting, northern -boundary of Arabia would be the limit of Nomad encampments, but for -convenience and practical purposes a boundary line may be drawn from -the Mediterranean along the thirty-third parallel to Busrah. - -Thus the shores of Arabia stretch from Suez to the Euphrates delta for -a total length of nearly 4,000 miles. This coast-line has comparatively -few islands or inlets, except in the Persian Gulf. The Red Sea coast -is fringed by extensive coral reefs, dangerous to navigation, but -from Aden to Muscat the coast is elevated and rocky, and contains -several good harbors. Eastern Arabia has a low, flat coast-line made -of coral-rock with here and there volcanic headlands. Farsan, off the -Tehamah coast, famous as the centre for Arab slave-dhows; Perim, where -English batteries command the gate of the Red Sea; the Kuria-Muria -group in the Indian Ocean; and the Bahrein archipelago in the Persian -Gulf, are the only important islands. Socotra, although occupied by an -Arab population and historically Arabian, is by geographers generally -attached to Africa. This island is however under the Indian government, -and, once Christian, is now wholly Mohammedan. - -The greatest length of the peninsula is about 1,000 miles, its average -breadth 600, and its area somewhat over 1,000,000 square miles. It -is thus over four times the size of France or larger than the United -States east of the Mississippi River. - -Arabia, until quite recently, has generally been regarded as a vast -expanse of sandy desert. Recent explorations have proved this idea -quite incorrect, and a large part of the region still considered -desert is as yet unexplored. Palgrave, in his “Central Arabia” gives -an excellent summary of the physical characteristics of the whole -peninsula as he saw it. Since his time Hadramaut has been partially -explored and the result confirms his statements: “The general type of -Arabia is that of a central table-land surrounded by a desert ring -sandy to the south, west and east, stony to the north. This outlying -circle is in its turn girt by a line of mountains low and sterile for -the most, but attaining in Yemen and Oman considerable height, breadth -and fertility; while beyond these a narrow rim of coast is bordered by -the sea. The surface of the midmost table-land equals somewhat less -than one-half of the entire peninsula; and its special demarkations -are much affected, nay often absolutely fixed, by the windings and -inrunnings of the Nefud (sandy desert). If to these central highlands -or _Nejd_, taking that word in its wider sense, we add whatever spots -of fertility belong to the outer circles, we shall find that Arabia -contains about two-thirds of cultivated or at least of cultivatable -land, with a remaining third of irreclaimable desert, chiefly on the -south.” - -From this description it is evident that the least attractive part of -the country is the coast. This may be the reason that Arabia has been -so harshly judged, as to climate and soil and so much neglected by -those who only knew of it from the captains who had touched its coast -in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Nothing is more surprising, than -to pass through the barren cinder gateway of Aden up the mountain -passes into the marvellous fertility and delightful climate of Yemen. -Arabia like the Arab, has a rough, frowning exterior but a warm, -hospitable heart. - -From the table-land of Nejd, which has an average elevation of about -3,000 feet above the sea, there is a gradual ascent southward to the -highlands of Yemen and Oman where there are mountain peaks as high -as 8,000 and 10,000 feet. This diversity of surface causes an equal -diversity of climate. The prevailing conditions are intense heat and -dryness, and the world-zone of maximum heat in July embraces nearly -the entire peninsula. On the coast the heat is more trying because of -the moisture from the enormous evaporation of the land-locked basins. -During part of the summer there is scarcely any difference in the -register of the wet and dry-bulb thermometer. In the months of June, -July and August, 1897, the averages of maximum temperature at Busrah -were 100°, 103-1/2° and 102° F.; and the minimum 84°, 86-1/2° and -84° F. Nejd has a salubrious climate, while in Yemen and Oman on the -highlands the mercury even in July seldom rises above 85°. In July, -1892, I passed in one day’s journey from a shade temperature of 110° F. -on the coast at Hodeidah to one of 55° at Menakha on the mountains. At -Sanaa there is frost for three months in the year, and Jebel Tobeyk in -northwest Arabia is covered with snow all winter. In fact, all northern -Arabia has a winter season with cold rains and occasional frosts. - -The geology of the peninsula is of true Arabian simplicity. According -to Doughty it consists of a foundation stock of plutonic (igneous) -rock whereon lie sandstone, and above that limestone. Going from -Moab to Sinai we cross the strata in the reverse order, while in the -depression of the gulf of Akaba the three strata are in regular order -although again overtopped by the granite of the mountains. Fossils are -very rare, but coral formation is common all along the coast. Volcanic -formations and lava (called by the Arabs, harrat) crop out frequently, -as in the region of Medina and Khaibar. In going by direct route from -the Red Sea (Jiddah) to Busrah, we meet first granite and trap-rock, -overtopped in the Harrat el-Kisshub by lavas, and further on at Wady -Gerir and Jebel Shear by basalts; at the Nefud el Kasim (Boreyda) -sandstones begin until we reach the limestone region of Jebel Toweyk. -Thence all is gravel and sand to the Euphrates. - -Arabia has no rivers and none of its mountain streams (some of which -are perennial) reach the seacoast. At least they do not arrive there -by the _overland_ route, for it is a well-established fact that the -many fresh water springs found in the Bahrein archipelago have their -origin in the uplands of Arabia. At Muscat, too, water is always -flowing toward the sea in abundance at the depth of ten to thirty feet -below the wady-bed; this supplies excellent well-water. In fact the -entire region of Hasa is full of underground watercourses and perennial -springs. Coast-streams are frequent in Yemen during the rain-season and -often become suddenly full to overflowing dashing everything before -them. They are called _sayl_, and well illustrate Christ’s parable of -the flood which demolished the house built upon the sand. - -The great wadys of Arabia are its characteristic feature, celebrated -since the days of Job, the Arab. These wadys, often full to the brim -in winter and black by reason of frost but entirely dried up during -the heat of summer, would never be suspected of giving nourishment to -even a blade of grass. They are generally dry for nine and ten months -in the year, during which time water is obtained from wells sunk in -the wady-bed. Wady Sirhan runs in a southeasterly direction from the -Hauran highlands to the Jauf district on the edge of the great Nefud; -it is fed by the smaller Wady er-Rajel. Wady Dauasir which receives -the Nejran streams drains all of the Asir and southern Hejaz highlands -northward to Bahr Salumeh, a small lake, the only one known in the -whole peninsula. The Aftan is another important wady running from -the borders of Nejd into the Persian Gulf. This wady-bed is marked -on some maps as a river, flowing into the Persian Gulf apparently by -two mouths. It does not exist to-day. The most important water-bed -in Arabia is the celebrated Wady er-Ruma, only partly explored, -which flows from Hejaz across the peninsula for nearly 800 miles in -a northwesterly direction toward the Euphrates. Were there a more -abundant rainfall this wady would reach the Shat-el-Arab and give unity -to the now disjointed water-system of Mesopotamia and north Arabia.[1] -For obvious reasons the caravan routes of Arabia generally follow the -course of the wadys. - -Arabia is also a land of mountains and highlands. The most clearly -developed system is the extensive range skirting the Red Sea at a -distance of from one to three days’ journey from the coast. South -of Mecca there are peaks of over 8,000 feet; and beyond, the range -broadens out to form the Yemen highlands, a corner of the peninsula -worthy of its old name “Arabia Felix.” The mountains along the south -coast are more irregular and disconnected until they broaden out a -second time between Ras el Had and Ras Mussendum to form the highlands -of Oman. Along the gulf coast there are no mountains except an -occasional volcanic hill like Jebel Dokhan in Bahrein and Jebel Sanam -near Zobeir. - -The Nejd is crossed by several ridges of which the best known is Jebel -Shammar running nearly east and west at an altitude of about 6,000 -feet. Jebel Menakib, Jebel Aared, Jebel Toweyk and Jebel Athal are -other ranges south of Jebel Shammar and also running in a similar -direction toward the southwest and northeast. The Sinai peninsula is a -rocky limestone plateau intersected by rugged gorges and highest toward -the south in the region of Sinai proper. - -Next to its wadys and mountains Arabia is characterized chiefly by the -so-called _Harrat_ or volcanic tracks already mentioned. These black, -gloomy, barren regions occupy a much wider extent of north Arabia -than is generally supposed. The largest is _Harrat Khaibar_, north of -Medina, the old centre of the Jews in the days of Mohammed. It is over -100 miles in length and in some parts thirty miles wide. A wilderness -of lava and lava-stones with many extinct crater heads, craggy, and -strewn with rough blocks of basalt and other igneous rocks. In some -places the lava beds are 600 feet deep. Signs of volcanic action are -still seen at Khaibar, smoke issuing from crevices and steam from the -summit of Jebel Ethnan. A volcanic eruption was seen at Medina as late -as 1256 A.D.[2] and the hot and sulphur springs of Hasa and Hadramaut -seem to indicate present volcanic action. - -The sandy-tracts of the so-called Arabian deserts are termed by the -Arabs themselves _nefud_ (drained, exhausted, spent), the name given -on most maps. The general physical features of this “desert” are those -of a plain clothed with stunted, aromatic shrubs of many varieties, -but their value as pasture is very unequal, some being excellent for -camels and sheep, others absolutely worthless. Some nefuds abound in -grasses and flowering plants after the early rains, and then the desert -“blossoms like the rose.” Others are without rain and barren all year; -they are covered with long stretches of drift-sand, carried about by -the wind and tossed in billows on the weather side of the rocks and -bushes.[3] Palgrave asserts that some of the nefud sands are 600 feet -deep. They prevail in the vast unexplored region south of Nejd and -north of Hadramaut including the so-called “Great Arabian Desert.” -Absolute sterility is the dominant feature here, whereas the northern -nefuds are the pasture lands for thousands of horses and sheep. - -[Illustration: PTOLEMAEUS KARTE VON ARABIA FELI] - - - - - II - - THE GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS OF ARABIA - - -The division of Arabia into provinces has always been rather according -to physical geography than political boundaries. The earliest division -of the peninsula, and in some respects the most correct, was that -of the Greek and Roman writers into _Arabia Deserta_ and _Arabia -Felix_. The latter epithet was perhaps only a mistaken translation -of _El-Yemen_—the land on “the right hand,” that is south of Mecca, -for the Orientals face east. This is contrasted with Syria which in -Arabic is called “_Es-Sham_” or the land “to the left” of Mecca. The -third division, _Arabia Petræa_, or “Stony Arabia,” first appears in -Ptolemy and is applied to the Sinai district. He limits Arabia Deserta -to the extreme northern desert and so his map of the entire peninsula -bears the title of Arabia Felix. The great geographer anticipated all -modern maps of Arabia by naming the regions according to the tribes -that inhabit them; a much more intelligent method than the drawing of -artificial lines around natural features and dubbing them with a name -to suit the cartographer. - -The Arab geographers know nothing of this threefold division into -sandy, stony, and happy-land. They divide the Island-of-the-Arabs -(Jezirat-el-Arab) into five provinces.[4] The first is called -_El-Yemen_ and includes Hadramaut, Mehrah, Oman, Shehr, and Nejran. -The second _El-Hejaz_, on the west coast, so called because it is the -barrier between Tehama and Nejd; it nearly corresponds to our Hejaz, -excluding its southern portion. The third is _Tehama_, along the -coast, between Yemen and Hejaz. The fourth is _Nejd_, a term loosely -applied to all the interior table-lands. The fifth is called _Yemama_ -or _’Arudh_ because it extends all the “wide” way between Yemen (Oman) -and Nejd. It is important to distinguish between this Arabian division -and that now nearly everywhere adopted on the maps of the occident; -much confusion has arisen when this distinction was not made. - -The modern division of the peninsula into seven provinces: Hejaz, -Yemen, Hadramaut, Oman, Hasa, Irak and Nejd, is according to political -geography and serves all practical purposes, although it is not -strictly accurate. Hejaz, the Holyland of Arabia, includes the sacred -cities of Mecca and Medina. Yemen is bounded by the line of fertility -on the north and east so as to include the important region of Asir. -Hadramaut has no clearly defined boundaries and stretches northward -to the unknown region of the Dahna. Oman is the peninsula between the -southern shore of the Gulf and the Indian Ocean, while Hasa covers -the entire coast district north of El-Katar peninsula (on some maps -called El-Bahrein). Irak-Arabi or Irak is the northern river-country -politically corresponding to what is called “Turkish-Arabia.” - -As to the present division of political power in Arabia, it is -sufficient here to note that the Sinai peninsula and 200 miles of -coast south of the Gulf of Akaba is Egyptian; Hejaz, Yemen and Hasa -are nominally Turkish provinces, but their political boundaries are -shifting and uncertain. The present Shereef of Mecca at times dictates -to the Sublime Porte while the Bedouin tribes even in Hejaz acknowledge -neither Sultan nor Shereef and waylay the pilgrim caravans that come -to the holy cities unless they receive large blackmail. In Yemen the -Arabs have never ceased to fret under the galling yoke of the Turk -since it was put on their shoulders by the capture of Sana in 1873. The -insurrection in 1892 was nearly a revolution and again this year (1899) -all Yemen is in arms. It is very suggestive that in the present revolt -some of the Arabs made use of the English flag to secure sympathy. - -In Hasa, the real sovereignty of Turkey only exists in three or four -towns while all the Bedouin and many of the villagers yield to the -Dowla, neither tribute, obedience nor love. Irak alone is actually -Turkish and yields large revenue. But even here Arab-uprisings are -frequent. Nominally, however, Turkey holds the fairest province on the -south, the religious centres on the west and the fertile northeast of -Arabia,—one-fifth of the total area of the peninsula. - -The remainder of Arabia is independent of Turkey. Petty rulers calling -themselves Sultans, Ameers or Imams have for centuries divided the -land between them. The Sultanate of Oman and the great Nejd-kingdom -are the only important governments, but the former lost its glory when -its seat of power and influence was transferred to Zanzibar. Nejd in -its widest sense is governed to-day by Abd-el-Aziz bin Mitaab the -nephew of the late Mohammed bin Rashid, King Richard of Arabia, who -gained his throne by the massacre of seventeen possible pretenders. -The territory of this potentate is bordered southward by Riad and the -Wahabi country. Northward his influence extends beyond the Nefud, right -away to the Oases of Kaf and Ittery in the Wady Sirhan (38° E. Long., -31° N. Lat.) east of the Dead Sea. The inhabitants of these oases -acknowledge Abd-el-Aziz as their suzerain paying him a yearly tribute -of four pounds ($20.00) for each village. The people of the intervening -district of Jauf also acknowledge his rule which reaches westward to -Teima. He also commands the new pilgrim-route from the northeast which -formerly passed through Riad but now touches Hail, the capital of Nejd. -The Wahabi movement has collapsed and their political power is broken, -although their influence has extended to the furthest confines of -Arabia. - -The only foreign power dominant in Arabia, beside Turkey, is England. -Aden became a British possession in 1838 and since then British -influence has extended until it now embraces a district 200 miles -long by forty broad and a population of 130,000. The Island of Perim -in the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, the Kuria-Muria Islands on the south -coast, and Socotra are also English. All the independent tribes on -the coast from Aden to Muscat and from Muscat to Bahrein have made -exclusive treaties with Great Britain, are subsidized by annual -payments or presents and are “protected.” Muscat and Bahrein are in a -special sense protected states since England’s settled policy is to -have sole dominion in the Persian Gulf. She has agencies or consulates -everywhere; the postal system of the Persian Gulf is British; the rupee -has driven the piastre out of the market and as ninety-eight per cent. -of the commerce is in English hands the Persian Gulf may yet become an -English lake. - -Arabia has no railroads, but regular caravan routes take their place -in every direction. Turkish telegraph service exists between Mecca and -Jiddah in Hejaz; between Sanaa, Hodeidah and Taiz in Yemen; and along -the Tigris-Euphrates between Bagdad and Busrah connecting at Fao (at -the delta) with the submarine cable to Bushire and India. - -Of the fauna and flora of Arabia we will not here speak at length. -The most characteristic plants are the date-palm of which over 100 -varieties are catalogued by the Arab peasantry, and which yields a -staple food. Coffee, aromatic and medicinal plants, gums and balsams, -have for ages supplied the markets of the world. Yemen is characterized -by tropical luxuriance, and in Nejd is the _ghatha_ tree which grows to -a height of fifteen feet, and yields the purest charcoal in the world. - -Among the wild animals were formerly the lion and the panther, but -they are now exceedingly rare. The wolf, wild boar, jackal, gazelle, -fox, monkey, wild cow (or white antelope) ibex, horned viper, cobra, -bustard, buzzard and hawk are also found. The ostrich still exists in -southwest Arabia but is not common The chief domestic animals are the -ass, mule, sheep, goats, but above all and superior to all, the camel -and the horse. - -The exact population of a land where there is no census, and where -women and girls are never counted is of course unknown. The Ottoman -government gives exaggerated estimates for its Arabian provinces, and -travellers have made various guesses. Some recent authorities, omitting -Irak, put the total population of Arabia as low as 5,000,000. A.H. -Keane, F.R.G.S., gives the following estimate:[5] - - _Turkish Arabia_ - Hejaz, 3,500,000 - Yemen, 2,500,000 - _Independent Arabia_ - Oman, 1,500,000 - Shammar, Bahrein, etc., 3,500,000 - _________ - 11,000,000 - - -Albrecht Zehm in his book “Arabien seit hundert Jahren,” arrives at -nearly the same result: - - Yemen and Asir, 2,252,000 - Hadramaut, 1,550,000 - Oman and Muscat, 1,350,000 - Bahrein Katif, Nejd, 2,350,000 - Hejaz, Anaeze, Kasim, and Jebel Shammar, 3,250,000 - _________ - 10,752,000 - -But undoubtedly both of these estimates, following Turkish authorities, -are too high, especially for Hejaz and Yemen. A conservative estimate -would be 8,000,000 for the entire peninsula in its widest extent. -The true number of inhabitants will remain unknown until further -explorations disclose the real character of southeastern Arabia, -and until northern Hadramaut yields up its secrets. In this, as in -other respects, the words of Livingstone are true: “The end of the -geographical feat is the beginning of the missionary enterprise.” - - - - - III - - THE HOLY LAND OF ARABIA—MECCA - - “The Eastern world moves slowly—_eppur si muove_. Half a generation - ago steamers were first started to Jiddah: now we hear of a projected - railway from that port to Mecca, the shareholders being all Moslems. - And the example of Jerusalem encourages us to hope that long before - the end of the century a visit to Mecca will not be more difficult - than a trip to Hebron.”—_Burton_ (1855). - - “Our train of camels drew slowly by them: but when the smooth Mecca - merchant heard that the stranger riding with the camel men was a - Nasrany, he cried ‘Akhs! A Nasrany in these parts!’ and with the - horrid inurbanity of their jealous religion he added, ‘Ullah curse his - father!’ and stared on me with a face worthy of the Koran.”—_Doughty_ - (1888) - - -It is a rule laid down in the Koran and confirmed by many traditions -that the sacred territory enclosing the birthplace and the tomb of the -prophet shall not be polluted by the visits of infidels. “O believers! -only those are unclean who join other gods with God! Let them not -therefore after this their year come near the Sacred Mosque.” (Surah -ix. 27.) Mohammed is reported to have said of Mecca, “What a splendid -city thou art, if I had not been driven out of thee by my tribe I would -dwell in no other place but in thee. It is not man but God who has made -Mecca sacred. My people will be always safe in this world and the next -as long as they respect Mecca.” (Mishkat book XL., ch. xv.) - -The sacred boundaries of Mecca and Medina not only shut out all -unbelievers, but they make special demands of “purity and holiness” -(in the Moslem sense) on the part of the true believers. According to -tradition it is not lawful to carry weapons or to fight within the -limits of the _Haramein_. Its - -[Illustration: MOHAMMEDAN PILGRIMS AT MECCA] - -[Illustration: THE SACRED WELL OF ZEMZEM AT MECCA] - -grass and thorns must not be cut nor must its game be molested. Some -doctors of law hold that these regulations do not apply to Medina, but -others make the burial-place of the prophet equally sacred with the -place of his birth. The boundaries of this sacred territory are rather -uncertain. Abd ul Hak says that when, at the time of the rebuilding -of the Kaaba, Abraham, the friend of God, placed the black stone, its -east, west, north and south sides became luminous, and wherever the -light extended, became the boundaries of the sacred city! These limits -are now marked by pillars of masonry, except on the Jiddah and Jairanah -road where there is some dispute as to the exact boundary. - -The sacred territory of Medina is ten or twelve miles in diameter, -from Jebel ’Air to Saoor. Outside of these two centres all of the -province of Hejaz is legally accessible to infidels, but the fanaticism -of centuries has practically made the whole region round Mecca and -Medina forbidden territory to any but Moslems. In Jiddah Christians are -tolerated because of necessity, but were the Mullahs of Mecca to have -their way not a Frankish merchant or consul would reside there for a -single day. - -Despite these regulations to shut out “infidels” from witnessing -the annual pilgrimage and seeing the sacred shrines of the Moslem -world, more than a score of travellers have braved the dangers of the -transgression and escaped the pursuit of fanatics to tell the tale -of their adventures.[6] Others have lost their life in the attempt -even in recent years. Doughty[7] tells of a Christian who was foully -murdered by Turkish soldiers when found in the limits of Medina in -the summer of 1878. Burton at one time barely escaped being murdered -because they suspected him of being an unbeliever. - -Jiddah, the harbor of Mecca, is distant from the sacred city about -sixty-five miles, and is in consequence the chief port of debarkation -and embarkation for pilgrims. It has a rather pretty and imposing -appearance from the sea, the houses being white and three or four -stories high, surrounded by a wall and flanked by a half dozen lazy -windmills of Dutch pattern! Its streets are narrow, however, and -indescribably dirty, so that the illusion of an Oriental picture is -dispelled as soon as you set foot on shore. The sanitary condition of -this port is the worst possible; evil odors abound, the water supply -is precarious and bad, and a shower of rain is always followed by an -outbreak of fever. The population is not over 20,000 of every Moslem -nation under heaven, Galilee of “the believers.” Its commercial -importance, which once was considerable, has altogether declined. The -opening of the Suez canal and the direct carrying of trade by ocean -steamers dealt the deathblow to the extensive coast-trade of both -Jiddah and the other Red Sea ports. The people of Jiddah, like those -of Mecca, live by fleecing pilgrims, and when the traffic is brisk -and pilgrims affluent they grow rich enough to go to Mecca and set -up a larger establishment of the same sort. There are hotel-keepers, -drummers, guides, money-changers, money-lenders, slave-dealers and -even worse characters connected with the annual transfer of the -caravans of _hajees_ (pilgrims) from the coast inland. The number -of pilgrims arriving at Jiddah by sea in 1893 was 92,625. In 1880 -Mr. Blunt collected some interesting statistics of the total numbers -attending the pilgrimage at Mecca,[8] and his investigations prove that -the overland caravans are steadily becoming smaller. - -Before any pilgrims are allowed to enter Jiddah harbor they are -compelled to undergo ten days’ quarantine at Kamaran, an island on the -west coast of Arabia; this is the first woe. At Jiddah they remain only -a few days and then having secured their _Mutawwaf_ or official guide -they proceed to Mecca. The road is barren and uninteresting in the -extreme. Halfway to Mecca is El Had where the road divides; one branch -leads to Taif, the only fertile spot in this wilderness province, and -the other proceeds to Mecca, the ancient name of which was Bakkah. - -Were we to believe one half of what is said by Moslem writers in -praise of Mecca it would prove the Holy City to be a very paradise of -delights, a centre of learning and the paragon of earthly habitations. -But the facts show it to be far otherwise. The location of the city is -unfortunate. It lies in a hot sandy valley absolutely without verdure -and surrounded by rocky barren hills, destitute of trees or even -shrubs. The valley is about 300 feet wide and 4,000 feet long, and -slopes toward the south. The Kaaba or Beit Allah is located in the bed -of the valley and all the streets slope toward it, so that it is almost -closed in on every side by houses and walls, and stands as it were in -the pit of the theatre. The houses are built of dark stone and are -generally lofty in order to accommodate as many pilgrims as possible -in the limited space. The streets are nearly all unpaved and in summer -the sand and dust are as disagreeable as is the black mud in the rainy -season. Strangely enough, although the city itself and even the Kaaba -have more than once suffered from destructive floods that have poured -down the narrow valley, Mecca is poorly provided with water. There are -few cisterns to catch the rains and the well water is brackish. The -famous well of Zemzem has an abundance of water but it is not fit to -drink.[9] The best water is brought by an aqueduct from the vicinity -of Arafat six or seven miles distant and sold for a high price by a -water-trust which annually fills the coffers of the Shereef of - -[Illustration: PILGRIMS AROUND THE KAABA IN THE SACRED MOSQUE AT -MECCA] - -Mecca. This official is the nominal and often the real governor of the -city. He is chosen from the _Sayyids_ or descendants of Mohammed living -in Hejaz or secures the high office by force. His tenure of office is -subject to the approval and authority of the Turkish Sultan, whose -garrisons occupy the fort near the town. - -The Sacred Mosque, (Mesjid el Haram) containing the Kaaba or Beit Allah -is the prayer-centre of the Mohammedan world and the objective point -of thousands of pilgrims every year. According to Moslem writers it -was first constructed in heaven, 2,000 years before the creation of -the world. Adam, the first man, built the Kaaba on earth exactly under -the spot occupied by its perfect model in heaven. The 10,000 angels -appointed to guard this house of God seem to have been very remiss in -their duty for it has often suffered at the hands of men and from the -elements. It was destroyed by the flood and rebuilt by Ishmael and -Abraham. The legends connected with its construction and history fill -many pages of the Moslem traditions and commentaries. The name Kaaba -means a _cube_; but the building is not built true to line and is in -fact an unequal trapezium.[10] Because of its location in a hollow and -its black-cloth covering these inequalities are not apparent to the eye. - -The Kaaba proper stands in an oblong space 250 paces long by 200 broad. -This open space is surrounded by colonnades used for schools and as -the general rendezvous of pilgrims. It is in turn surrounded by the -outer temple wall with its nineteen gates and six minarets. The Mosque -is of much more recent date than the Kaaba which was well known as an -idolatrous Arabian shrine long before the time of Mohammed. The Sacred -Mosque and its Kaaba contain the following treasures: the Black-Stone, -the well of Zemzem, the great pulpit, the staircase, and the -_Kubattein_ or two small mosques of Saab and Abbas. The remainder of -the space is occupied by pavements and gravel arranged to accommodate -and distinguish the four orthodox sects in their devotions. - -The Black-Stone is undoubtedly the oldest treasure of Mecca. -Stone-worship was an Arabian form of idolatry in very ancient times -and relics of it remain in many parts of the peninsula. Maximus Tyrius -wrote in the second century, “the Arabians pay homage to I know not -what god which they represent by a quadrangular stone.” The Guebars or -ancient Persians assert that the black stone was an emblem of Saturn -and was left in the Kaaba by Mahabad. We have the Moslem tradition that -it came down snow-white from heaven and was blackened by the touch of -sin—according to one tradition, that of an impure woman, and according -to another by the kisses of thousands of believers. It is probably -an aerolite and owes its reputation to its fall from the sky. Moslem -historians do not deny that it was an object of worship before Islam, -but they escape the moral difficulty and justify their prophet by idle -tales concerning the stone and its relation to all the patriarchs -beginning with Adam. - -The stone is a fragment of what appears like black volcanic rock -sprinkled with irregular reddish crystals worn smooth by the touch -of centuries. It is held together by a broad band of metal, said to -be silver, and is imbedded in the southeast corner of the Kaaba five -feet from the ground. It is not generally known that there is a second -sacred stone at the corner facing the south. It is called Rakn el -Yemeni or Yemen pillar and is frequently kissed by pilgrims although -according to the correct ritual it should only be saluted by a touch of -the right hand. - -The well of Zemzem is located near the Makam Hanbali, the place of -prayer of this sect. The building which encloses the well was erected -in A. H. 1072 (A. D. 1661) and its interior is of white marble. Mecca -perchance owes its origin as an old Arabian centre to this medicinal -spring with its abundant supply of purgative waters for the nomads -to-day go long distances - -[Illustration: ALI BEY’S PLAN OF THE PROPHET’S MOSQUE AT MECCA] - -to visit sulphur and other springs in various parts of Arabia. The -well of Zemzem is one of the great sources of income to the Meccans. -The water is carried about for sale on the streets and in the mosques -in curious pitchers made of unglazed earthenware. They are slightly -porous so as to cool the water, which is naturally always of a lukewarm -temperature, and are all marked with certain mystical characters in -black wax. Crowds assemble around the well during the pilgrimage and -many coppers fall to the share of the lucky Meccans who have the -privilege of drawing the water for the faithful. - -The pilgrimage to Mecca should be performed in the twelfth lunar month -of the calendar called _Dhu el Haj_. It is incumbent on every believer -except for lawful hindrance because of poverty or illness. Mohammed -made it the fifth pillar of religion and more than anything else it -has tended to unify the Moslem world. The Koran teaching regarding the -duties of pilgrims at the Sacred Mosque, is as follows: “Proclaim to -the peoples a Pilgrimage. Let them come to thee on foot and on every -fleet camel arriving by every deep defile.” (Surah xxii. 28.) “Verily -As Safa and Al Marwa are among the signs of God: whoever then maketh a -pilgrimage to the temple or visiteth it shall not be to blame if he go -round about them both.” (ii. 153.) “Let the pilgrimage be made in the -months already known and who so undertaketh the pilgrimage therein let -him not know a woman, nor transgress nor wrangle in the pilgrimage.... -It shall be no crime in you if ye seek an increase from your Lord (by -trade); and when ye pass swiftly on from Arafat then remember God near -the holy Mosque.... Bear God in mind during the stated days; but if any -haste away in two days it shall be no fault to him, and if any tarry it -shall be no fault in him.” (Surah ii. passim.) - -From the Koran alone no definite idea of the pilgrim’s duties can be -gleaned; but fortunately for all true believers the Prophet’s perfect -example handed down by tradition leaves nothing in doubt and prescribes -every detail of conduct with ridiculous minuteness. The orthodox way -is as follows: arrived within a short distance of Mecca the pilgrims, -male and female, put off their ordinary clothing and assume the garb -of a _hajee_. It consists of two pieces of white cloth one of which -is tied around the loins and the other thrown over the back; sandals -may be worn but not shoes and the head must be left uncovered. (In -idolatrous days the Arabs did not wear any clothing in making the -circuit of the Kaaba). On facing Mecca the pilgrim pronounces the -_niyah_ or “intention”: - - “Here I am, O Allah, here I am; - No partner hast Thou, here I am; - Verily praise and riches and the kingdom are to Thee; - No partner hast Thou, here am I.” - -After certain legal ablutions the pilgrim enters the Mosque by the -Bab-el-salam and kisses the Black-Stone making the circuit, running, -around the Kaaba seven times (In idolatrous days the Arabs did this -in imitation of the motions of the planets; a remnant of their Sabean -worship.) Another special prayer is said and then the pilgrim proceeds -to Makam Ibrahim, where Abraham is said to have stood when he rebuilt -the Kaaba. There the _hajee_ goes through the regular genuflections and -prayers. He drinks next from the holy well and once more kisses the -Black-Stone. Then follows the running between Mounts Safa and Merwa. -Proceeding outward from the Mosque by the gate of Safa he ascends the -hill reciting the 153d verse of the Surah of the Cow. “Verily Safa and -Merwa are the signs of God.” Having arrived at the summit of the mount -he turns to the Kaaba and three times recites the words: - - “There is no god but God! - God is great! - There is no god save God alone! - He hath performed His promise - and hath aided His servant and - put to flight the hosts of - infidels by Himself alone!” - -He then runs from the top of Safa through the valley to the summit of -Merwa seven times repeating the aforesaid prayers each time on both -hills. This is the sixth day, on the evening of which the pilgrim again -encompasses the Kaaba. On the next day there is a sermon from the grand -pulpit. On the eighth day the pilgrim goes three miles distant to -Mina, where Adam longed for his lost paradise (!) and there spends the -night. The next morning he leaves for Arafat, another hill about eleven -miles from Mecca, hears a second sermon, returning before nightfall to -Muzdalifa, a place halfway between Mina and Arafat. - -The following day is the great day of the pilgrimage. It is called the -day of Sacrifice and is simultaneously celebrated all over the Moslem -world.[11] Early in the morning the pilgrim proceeds to Mina where -there are three pillars called, the “Great Devil,” the “Middle Pillar” -and the “First One.” At these dumb idols the “monotheist” flings seven -pebbles and as he throws them says: “In the name of Allah and Allah -is mighty, in hatred of the devil and his shame, I do this.” He then -performs the sacrifice, a sheep, goat, cow or camel according to the -means of the pilgrim. The victim is placed facing the Kaaba and a knife -plunged into the animal’s throat with the cry, _Allahu Akbar_. This -ceremony concludes the pilgrimage proper; the hair and nails are then -cut and the _ihram_ or pilgrims’ garb is doffed for ordinary clothing. -Three days more are sometimes counted as belonging to the pilgrimage, -the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth days, called _Eyyam-u-tashrik_, or -days of drying flesh, because during them the flesh of the sacrifices -is cut into slices and dried in the sun to be eaten on the return -journey. - -After the Meccan pilgrimage most Moslems go to Medina to visit the -tomb of Mohammed; the Wahabees however consider this “infidelity” and -honor of the creature more than of the Creator. Other Moslems base -their conduct on the saying of the prophet himself, _Man yuhajja wa -lam ye-zurni fakad jefani_, “who goes on Haj and does not visit me -has insulted me!” The Meccans call themselves “neighbors of God” and -the people of Medina “neighbors of the prophet.” For long ages a hot -rivalry has existed between the two cities, a rivalry which, beginning -in the taunt or jest, often ends in bloodshed. - -The pilgrim, having completed all legal requirements, is sure to visit -the proper authorities and secure a _certificate_ to prove to his -countrymen that he is a real Hajee and to substantiate his religious -boasting in days to come. The certificate is also required when one -goes on pilgrimage for a deceased Moslem or a wealthy Moslem who is -bedridden. In such a case the substitute has all the pleasures (!) -of the journey at the expense of his principal but the merit goes to -the man who pays the bills and who naturally craves the receipt. The -certificate is of various forms and contains crude pictures of the holy -places and verses from Koran. - -Needless to relate these certificates cost money, as does everything -at Mecca save the air you breathe. No honest Moslem ever spoke with -praise of the citizens of Mecca; many are their proverbs to prove why -wickedness flourishes in the courts of Allah. And European travellers -agree that of all Orientals the Meccans take the palm for thoroughgoing -rascality. Ali Bey dilates on the lewdness of the men and the looseness -of the women of Mecca. Hurgronje unblushingly lifts the veil that hides -the corruption of the sacred temple service with its army of eunuch -police, and pictures the slave-market in full swing within a stone’s -throw of the Kaaba. Burton thus characterizes the men who live on their -religion and grow fat (figuratively) by unveiling its mysteries to -others: - -[Illustration: PLATE IV.] - -[Illustration: PLATE III.] - -[Illustration: PLATE II.] - -[Illustration: PLATE I.] - -THE MECCA CERTIFICATE, which is given to pilgrims to the sacred city, -is looked upon by Moslems as practically a passport to heaven. It is -especially interesting because of the inside view which it gives of the -Mohammedan religion. At the top of each page are quotations from the -Koran. - -PLATE I. has, at the right-hand upper corner, the representation of -the Mosque of Muzdalifa and tents of the Pilgrims; to the left of -this, the Mosque of Nimr, near Mount Arafat, and below it, the Mahmals -of Syria and Egypt, _i.e._, palanquins carried on camels, surmounted -by flags. To the right is _Mount Arafat_, a sacred mountain about 12 -miles northeast of Mecca, which, in Moslem tradition, is said to be the -place where Adam and Eve met after the fall. The three pillars of Miná -represented below, are ancient pagan shrines, at each of which every -pilgrim must hurl seven stones at the devil. Near this is pictured the -Mesjed, or Mosque of Taif, the altar of Ishmael, the Dome of Abd-el -Kader in Bagdad, and at the extreme right the Dome of “Our Lord” -Hassein al Kerbela, where thousands of corpses of deceased Persians are -brought yearly to be buried. It is northwest of Bagdad, and lies in -Turkish territory. There are also pictured the birthplaces of Mohammed, -Ali Ibu Abi Talib, Abu Bekr, and Fatimeh, and the Tomb of Amina and -Khadijah; also two bell-shaped hills, Jebel Thaur and Jebel Nur. - -PLATE II. pictures the quadrangular court of the Mecca Haram, within -which is the circular colonnade, enclosing the _Kaaba_ or _Beit Allah_, -the House of God. Below the representation of the Kaaba is depicted -the famous station of Abraham, a stone 20 inches long by 15 inches -wide. It is in the shape of a basin, and is buried in the earth. The -name of Abraham is connected with it from the tradition that he first -built the Kaaba. Below this may be noticed the famous “Beer Zemzem,” -or Well of Zemzem, which is claimed to be the water which Hager saw, -when Ishmael was dying of thirst. Around the circle are the praying -places of the Malikis, the Hanafys, the Hanbalys and the Shafi-is, -the four great sects of Islam. Around the quadrangle are 20 gates, -such as Bab-su-Nebi, Gate of the Prophet, Gate of Abraham, of Peace, -of Abbas, of the Mare, the Mule, Safa, of Farewell, of Wisdom, etc., -etc.,—besides various shrines. - -PLATE III. shows representations of the Holy Places of _El Medina_, -the tomb of Mohammed. The large dome in the upper left-hand corner is -the tomb of Mohammed. Around the page are drawn the mosque of Fatimeh, -mosque of the Strength of Islam, the mosques of Hamzeh, Abu Bekr, Ali -and Silman, the tomb of Othman, and various other shrines. - -PLATE IV. contains the Holy Shrines of Jerusalem. The Haram-es-Sherif, -or the quadrangular area once occupied by the temple of Solomon, -occupies the centre of the page. The Mosque commonly known as the -Mosque of Omar, is here styled “Beit el Mukdas” or the Holy House. -Under the dome in the black circle is the “Rock of God,” or the -“Suspended Stone,” which the prophet kicked back when it tried to -follow him to heaven. The two footprints of the prophet are pictured -below the rock. Below this are the Scales of “Mizan,” in which all -men’s deeds are to be weighed at the last day, together with the shears -which cut off the life of men. At the bottom is the great _Bridge of -Sirat_, of vast length, the width of a hair, and sharp as a razor, over -which every mortal must walk barefooted. At the right of it is the pit -of Jehennam or hell, and to the left Jenneh or Paradise. A hazardous -feat it is to make the journey, since on it depends one’s eternal -destiny. Around this area are pictured the tombs of David, Solomon, -Moses and Jacob, and in the right-hand upper corner is seen Jebel, Toor -Sina, or Mount Sinai. - -“The Meccan is a covetous spendthrift. His wealth, lightly won, is -lightly prized. Pay, pensions, stipends, presents, and the ‘Ikram’ -here, as at Medina, supply the citizen with the means of idleness. -With him everything is on the most expensive scale, his marriage, -his religious ceremonies, and his household expenses. His house is -luxuriously furnished, entertainments are frequent, and the junketings -of the women make up a heavy bill at the end of the year. It is a -common practice for the citizen to anticipate the pilgrimage season by -falling into the hands of the usurer. The most unpleasant peculiarities -of the Meccans are their pride and coarseness of language. They -look upon themselves as the cream of earth’s sons, and resent with -extreme asperity the least slighting word concerning the Holy City and -its denizens. They plume themselves upon their holy descent, their -exclusion of infidels, their strict fastings, their learned men, and -their purity of language. In fact, their pride shows itself at every -moment; but it is not the pride which makes a man too proud to do a -dirty action. The Meccans appeared to me distinguished, even in this -foul-mouthed East, by the superior licentiousness of their language. -Abuse was bad enough in the streets, but in the house it became -intolerable.”[12] - -Temporary marriages which are a mere cloak for open prostitution are -common in Mecca and are indeed one of the chief means of livelihood to -the natives[13]. Concubinage and divorce are more universal than in any -other part of the Moslem world;[14] sodomy is practiced in the Sacred -Mosque itself[15] and the suburbs of the city are the scene of nightly -carnivals of iniquity, especially after the pilgrims have left and the -natives are rich with the fresh spoils of the traffic.[16] As might -be expected, superstition grows rife in such a soil and under such -circumstances. All sorts of holy-places, legends, sacred rocks, trees -and houses abound. Every Moslem saint who tarried in the city or died -there has left something to be remembered and honored. - -Gross ignorance coupled with equal conceit seems to be the universal -characteristic of the people of Mecca. Modern science is laughed at -and everything turns, on the Ptolemaic system, around the little world -of the Koran. Jinn are exorcised; witches and the evil-eye are avoided -by amulets; in short all the superstitious practices of the Moslem -world are cultivated in this centre of world-wide pilgrimage. Astrology -still usurps the place of astronomy and it is considered blasphemy -to profess to know the hour of an eclipse or the day of the new moon -before it is revealed from heaven. Alchemy is the science that attracts -the Meccan physician more than the marvels of surgery; potions of -holy-writ or talismans are still in use for sprains and dislocations. -Their ignorance of geography and history beyond the confines of the -pilgrim-world is pathetic. One of the chief Mullahs asked Hurgronje -“how many days was the caravan journey from Moskop (Russia) to -Andalusia (Spain)?” A government printing-press has been opened at -Mecca in recent years and an official gazette is published; but even -Turkish civilization and learning are considered far from orthodox for -their ways partake too much of those of the “infidels” of the rest -of Europe. Photography is a forbidden art and money with “images” of -queens and emperors is only used with the prayer _istagfir allah_, “I -ask pardon of God.” On the other hand many old European coins no longer -current are looked upon as being doubly valuable as amulets and charms. -One of these, the _Mishkash_ is supposed to have special virtues for -newly-married women. - -“The irony of history,” as Hurgronje remarks, “was not satisfied that -at Medina the grave of Mohammed who cursed saint-worship should become -a centre of pilgrimage, but added the circumstance that at Mecca, -Moslem women, who reject images and Christ-worship, should prize as an -amulet the image of Jesus and an Evangelist.” Of course, the women -themselves are in total ignorance of the inscription and character of -the coin. - -[Illustration: A CHRISTIAN COIN USED AS AN AMULET BY MECCAN WOMEN.[17]] - -There is a great abundance of schools at Mecca but no education. -Everything is on the old lines, beginning and ending with the Koran, -that Procrustean bed for the human intellect. “The letter killeth.” -And it is the _letter_ first, foremost and always that is the topic -of study. The youth learn to read the Koran not to understand its -meaning, but to drone it out professionally at funerals and feasts, so -many chapters for so many shekels. Modern science or history are not -even mentioned, much less taught, at even the high-schools of Mecca. -Grammar, prosody, caligraphy, Arabian history, and the first elements -of arithmetic, but chiefly the Koran commentaries and traditions, -traditions, traditions, form the curriculum of the Mohammedan college. -Those who desire a postgraduate course devote themselves to Mysticism -(_Tassawaf_) or join an order of the Derwishes who all have their -representative sheikhs at Mecca. - -The method of teaching in the schools of Mecca, which can be taken as -an example of the best that Arabia affords, is as follows. The child -of intellectual promise is first taught his alphabet from a small -wooden board on which they are written by the teacher; slates are -unknown. Then he learns the _Abjad_ or numerical value of each letter—a -useless proceeding at present as the Arabic notation, originally -from India, is everywhere in use. After this he learns to write down -the ninety-nine names of Allah and to read the first chapter of the -Koran; then he attacks the last two chapters, because they are short. -The teacher next urges him through the book, making the pupil read -at the top of his voice. The greatest strictness is observed as to -pronunciation and pauses but nothing whatever is said to explain the -meaning of the words. Having thus _finished_ the Koran, that is, -read it through once, the pupil takes up the elements of grammar, -learning rules by rote both of _sarf_ (inflection) and _nahw_ (syntax). -Then follow the liberal sciences, _al-mantik_ (logic), _al-hisab_ -(arithmetic), _al-jabr_ (algebra), _al-ma’ana wa’l beyan_ (rhetoric -and versification), _al-fikh_ (jurisprudence), _al-akäid_ (scholastic -theology), _at-tafsir_ (exegetics), _ilm ul-usul_ (science of sources -of interpretation) and lastly, the capstone of education, _al-ahadith_ -(traditions). Instruction is given by lectures; text-books are seldom -used; lessons begin in the morning and continue for a few hours; in -the afternoon they are interrupted by prayer-time. Even at Mecca the -favorite place for teaching is in the Mosque-court where constant -interruptions and distractions must make it pleasant for a lazy pupil. - -[Illustration: A WOMAN OF MECCA] - -[Illustration: A MECCAN WOMAN IN HER BRIDAL COSTUME] - - - - - IV - - THE HOLY LAND OF ARABIA—MEDINA - - “Within the sanctuary or bounds of the city all sins are forbidden; - but the several schools advocate different degrees of strictness. The - Imam Malik, for instance, allows no latrinæ nearer to El Medina than - Jebel Ayr, a distance of about three miles. He also forbids slaying - wild animals, but at the same time he specifies no punishment for - the offence. All authors strenuously forbid, within the boundaries, - slaying man, (except invaders, infidels and the sacrilegious) drinking - spirits and leading an immoral life. In regard to the dignity of the - sanctuary there is but one opinion; a number of traditions testify to - its honor, praise its people and threaten dreadful things to those who - injure it or them.”—_Burton_. - - -About seventy miles southeast of Mecca is the small but pleasant town -of Taif, to which the pashas condemned for the murder of Abdul Aziz -Sultan were banished. It is one of the most interesting and attractive -towns of all Arabia, being surrounded by gardens and vineyards from -which Mecca has been supplied for ages. The tropical rains last -from four to six weeks at Taif, and good wells abound to water the -gardens when the rains cease, so that the place is famous for its -garden-produce. In close proximity to the barren Mecca district Taif -is a paradise for the pilgrim and a health resort for the jaundiced, -fever-emaciated Meccan. At Taif Doughty saw three old stone idols of -“the days of ignorance”; _El Uzza_, a block of granite some twenty feet -long; another called _Hubbal_, with a cleft in the middle, “by our Lord -Aly’s sword-stroke”; and _El Lat_, an unshapely crag of grey granite. -These were earlier stone-gods of the Arab, and now lie forsaken in the -dirt, while their brother-god, the famous Black-Stone, receives the -reverence of millions! - -The road from Mecca to El Medina—“_the_ city”—so called because the -prophet chose it as his home in time of persecution—leads nearly due -north. It is an uninteresting, and for the most part, a forsaken -country that separates the rival cities. Burton writes that it reminded -him of the lines, - - “Full many a waste I’ve wandered o’er, - Clomb many a crag, crossed, many a shore, - But, by my halidome - A scene so rude, so wild as this, - Yet so sublime in barrenness, - Ne’er did my wandering footsteps press, - Where’er I chanced to roam.” - -There are two caravan-routes, both of which are used by the pilgrims, -but the eastern road is used most frequently.[18] - -The region between Mecca and Medina is the home of the ancient poets of -Arabia and is classic ground. The seven Moallakat or suspended poems -find their scene in this region. Lebid wrote: - - “Deserted is the village—waste the halting place and home, - At Mina, o’er Rijam and Ghul wild beasts unheeded roam, - On Rayyan hill the channel lines have left their naked trace, - Time-worn as primal writ that dints the mountain face.” - -El Medina, formerly called _Yathrib_, is now also called _El Munowera_, -the “illuminated,” and devout Moslems commonly claim to see, on -approaching the city, a luminous haze hanging over its mosques and -houses. The legends and superstitions that cluster around the last -resting-place of the Prophet are not less in number nor less credible -than those that glorify the place of his birth, although the town is -only about half the size and contains 16,000 inhabitants. It consists -of three principal divisions: the town proper, the fort and the -suburbs. It is surrounded by a wall forty feet high; the streets are -narrow and unpaved; the houses are flat-roofed and double-stoned. - -The current dispute, however, for many centuries has been regarding -the relative sanctity and importance of the two cities, Mecca and -Medina. A visit to Medina is called _Ziyarat_, as that to Mecca is -called _Haj_; the latter is obligatory by order of the Koran, while -the former is meritorious on the authority of tradition. The orthodox -further stipulate, that circumambulation around the prophet’s tomb at -Medina is not allowed as around the Kaaba at Mecca nor should men wear -the _ihram_, nor kiss the tomb. On the other hand, to spit upon it or -treat it with contempt, as the Wahabees did, is held to be the act of -an infidel. To quote again from Burton: “The general consensus of Islam -admits the superiority of the Beit Allah at Mecca to the whole world; -and declares Medina to be more venerable than every part of Mecca, and -consequently all the earth, except only the Beit Allah. This last is a -_juste milieu_ view by no means in favor with the inhabitants of either -place.” - -The one thing that gives Medina claim to sanctity is the prophet’s -tomb, and yet there is some doubt as to whether he is really buried -in the mosque raised to his honor; of course every Moslem, learned -or ignorant, believes it, but there are many arguments against the -supposition.[19] One of these arguments alone would have little value -against so old a tradition and practice, but their cumulative force -cannot be denied, and throws serious doubt on the question whether the -present mosque of the prophet contains any trace of his remains. On the -other hand pious Moslems affirm that the prophet is not really dead, -but “eats and drinks in the tomb until the day of resurrection,” and is -as much alive as he ever was. - -[Illustration: REPORTED ARRANGEMENT OF THE INTERIOR OF THE HUJRAH.] - -The Mesjid-el-Nebi or prophet’s mosque at Medina is about 420 feet -long by 340 broad. It is built nearly north and south and has a large -interior courtyard, surrounded by porticoes. From the western side we -enter the _Rauzah_ or prophet’s garden. On the north and west it is -not divided from the rest of the portico; on the south side runs a -dwarf wall and on the east it is bounded by the lattice-work of the -_Hujrah_. This is an irregular square of about fifty feet separated -on all sides from the walls of the Mosque by a broad passage. Inside -there are said to be three tombs carefully concealed inside the iron -railing by a heavy curtain arranged like a four-post bed. The Hujrah -has four gates, all kept locked except the fourth which admits only the -officers in charge of the treasure, the eunuchs who sweep the floor, -light the lamps and carry away the presents thrown into the enclosure -by devotees. It is commonly asserted that many early Moslem saints -and warriors desired the remaining space for their grave, but that by -Mohammed’s wish it is reserved for ’Isa on his second coming and death. -The story of a coffin suspended by magnets has of course no foundation -in fact and may have arisen from the crude drawings of the tombs. - -The _ziyarah_ at the Mosque consists in prayers and alms-giving with -silent contemplation on the sacred character of Mohammed. The following -sample “prayer” offered at the shrine of Fatima, gives some idea of -what is to Christian ears a blasphemous service: “Peace be upon thee, -O daughter of the apostle of Allah! Thou mother of the excellent seed. -Peace be upon thee thou Lady amongst women. Peace be upon thee, O Fifth -of the people of the Prophet’s garment! A pure one, O virgin! Peace be -on thee, O spouse of our Lord, Ali el Murtaza, O mother of Hasan and -Hussein, the two Moons, the two Lights, the two Pearls, the two princes -of the youth of Heaven, the Coolness of the eyes of true believers! -etc., etc.” The prayers offered at the prophet’s grave are more fulsome -in their praise and of much greater length. What would the camel-driver -of Mecca say if he heard them? - -As at Mecca so at Medina the townspeople, one and all, live on the -pilgrims. The keeper of the Mosque is a Turkish Pasha with a large -salary and many perquisites; there are treasurers and professors and -clerks and sheikhs of these eunuchs kept on salary. Sweepers and -porters, all eunuchs, and guides as at Mecca who live by backsheesh or -extortion. Water-carriers here too peddle about the brackish fluid by -the cupful to thirsty pilgrims. Those who are not in the service of the -Mosque usually keep boarding-houses, or sell prayers which are to be -made once a year at the prophet’s tomb, for the absent pilgrim. Most of -the officials receive their salaries from Constantinople and Cairo. - -The population of Medina is not less a mixed multitude than that of -Mecca; here also the observation of Zehm holds true, “every pilgrimage -brings new fathers.” Burton testifies, “It is not to be believed that -in a town garrisoned by Turkish troops, full of travelled traders, -and which supports itself by plundering _Hajis_ the primitive virtues -of the Arab could exist. The Meccans, a dark people, say of the -Madani, that their hearts are as black as their skins are white. This -is of course exaggerated; but it is not too much to assert that -pride, pugnacity, a peculiar point of honor, and a vindictiveness of -wonderful force and patience, are the only characteristic traits of -Arab character which the citizens of El Medina habitually display.” -Intoxicating liquors are made at Medina and sold, although not openly. - -There are two colleges with “libraries” at Medina and many -mosque-schools. In Burckhardt’s day he charged the town with utter -ignorance and illiteracy, but now they devote themselves apparently to -literature, at least in a measure. - -The climate of Medina is better than that of Mecca and the winters are -cold and rigorous. Mohammed is reputed to have said, “he who patiently -endures the cold of El Medina and the heat of Mecca, merits a reward in -paradise.” - -Returning from the lesser pilgrimage to Medina the traveller can -retrace his steps to Mecca, and thence to Jiddah, or go to the -nearer port of Yanbo (Yembo) and thence return home by steamer or -sailing-vessel. The distance by camels’ route, between Medina and the -port is 132 miles, six stages, although a good dromedary can make it -in two days. At Yanbo the sultan’s dominions in Arabia begin, for -the coast northward pertains to Egypt. The town resembles Jiddah in -outward appearance, has 400 or 500 houses built of white coral rock, -dirty streets and a precarious water supply. Sadlier, (1820) after his -journey across the peninsula, visited Yanbo, and describes it as “a -miserable Arab seaport surrounded by a wall”; Yanbo has, however, a -good harbor, and was in earlier days, a large and important place; it -has been identified with Iambia village on Ptolemy’s map a harbor of -the old Nabateans. - -Thus ends our pilgrimage through the Holy Land of Arabia. Let us in -conclusion ponder the words of Stanley Lane Poole as to the place which -Mecca and the pilgrimage holds in the Mohammedan religion. “It is asked -how the destroyer of idols could have reconciled his conscience to the -circuits of the Kaaba and the veneration of the Black-Stone covered -with adoring kisses. The rites of the pilgrimage cannot certainly be -defended against the charge of superstition; but it is easy to see -why Mohammed enjoined them.... He well knew the consolidating effect -of forming a centre to which his followers should gather, and hence -he reasserted the sanctity of the Black-Stone that ‘came down from -heaven’; he ordained that everywhere throughout the world the Moslem -should pray looking toward the Kaaba, and enjoined him to make the -pilgrimage thither. Mecca is to the Moslem what Jerusalem is to the -Jew. It bears with it all the influence of centuries of associations. -It carries the Moslem back to the cradle of his faith and the childhood -of his prophet.... And, most of all, it bids him remember that all his -brother Moslems are worshipping toward the same sacred spot; that he is -one of a great company of believers united by one faith, filled with -the same hopes, reverencing the same thing, worshipping the same God.” - - - - - V - - ADEN AND AN INLAND JOURNEY - - “Aden is a valley surrounded by the sea; its climate is so bad that it - turns wine into vinegar in the space of ten days. The water is derived - from cisterns and is also brought in by an aqueduct two farsongs long.” - —_Ibn-el-Mojawir._ (A.D. 1200) - - -Arabia is unfortunate because, like a chestnut-burr, its exterior is -rough and uninviting. In scenery and climate, Yemen fares worst of all -the provinces. The two gateways to Arabia Felix are very _infelix_. -What could be more dreary and dull and depressing than the “gloomy -hills of darkness” that form the background to Aden as seen from the -harbor? There is no verdure, no vegetation visible; everywhere there -is the same appearance of a cinder heap. And where can one find a more -filthy, hot, sweltering, odorous native town than Hodeidah? Yet these -two places are the gateways to the most beautiful, fertile, populous -and healthful region of all Arabia. - -Yemen is best known of all the provinces, and has been quite thoroughly -explored by a score of intrepid travellers.[20] Most people, however, -travelling in a P. and O. Steamer, calling at Aden for coal, remain in -total ignorance of the fair highlands just beyond the dark hills that -hide the horizon Yemen extends from Aden to Asir on the north and -eastward into Hadramaut for an indefinite distance. On the earlier maps -Arabia Felix stretched as far as Oman—a great mountainous region with a -temperate climate. An Arabian author, describing Yemen as it was before -the time of Mohammed, wrote: “Its inhabitants are all hale and strong, -sickness is unknown, nor are there poisonous plants or animals; nor -fools, nor blind people, and the women are ever young; the climate is -like paradise and one wears the same garment summer and winter.” - -The massive rock promontory of volcanic basalt called Aden, has from -time immemorial been the gateway and the stronghold for all Yemen. It -is generally agreed that Ezekiel, the prophet, referred to Aden when he -wrote. “Haran and Canneh and _Eden_, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur and -Chilmad, were thy merchants.” The place was fortified and its wonderful -rock cisterns were probably first constructed by the early Himyarites. -A Christian church was erected at Aden by the embassy of the Emperor -Constantius, A.D. 342, and Aden was for a long time in the hands of -the Christian kings of Yemen. Then it fell a prey to the Abyssinians -and next to the Persians, about the time when Mohammed was born. -Albuquerque in 1513 with his Portuguese warriors laid siege to Aden for -four days, but in spite of scaling-ladders and gunpowder could not take -the town. The Mameluke Sultans of Egypt also failed to capture this -fortress. In 1838 the English took it by storm and have held the place -ever since. - -Aden is now a British settlement, a commercial-centre, a -coaling-station and a fortress; the last most emphatically. All the -latest improvements in engineering and artillery have been put to use -in fortifying the place. The ride from Steamer-Point to “the crater” -or from the telegraph-station to the “Crescent” gives one some idea of -the vast amount of money and labor expended to shape this Gibraltar -and make it impregnable from land and sea. The isthmus is guarded by -massive lines of defence, strengthened by a broad ditch cut out of the -solid rock; bastions, casements and tunnels all serve one purpose; -batteries, towers, arsenals, magazines, barracks; mole-batteries -toward the sea, mines in the harbor, obstruction piers and subservient -works;—everything tells of military strength, and the town has always a -warlike aspect in perfect accord with its forbidding physical geography. - -The inhabited peninsula is an irregular oval about fifteen miles in -circumference; it is in reality a large extinct crater formed of lofty -precipitous hills the highest peak of which, Shem Shem, has an altitude -of nearly 1,800 feet. The varieties of rock are numerous, and vary -in color from light brown to dark green. Pumice and tufas are very -common, the former is an article of export. Water is very scarce, and -there is almost no rainfall during some years. When there is a shower, -the nature of the soil and the immense watershed for so small an area -cause heavy torrents to pour down the valleys. These rare occasions are -utilized to fill the huge tanks near Aden camp. The tanks were built -as early as 600 A.D. by the Yemenites who built besides the celebrated -dam at Marib, and the many similar structures in various parts of -Yemen. Water is also brought by an aqueduct from Sheikh Othman, seven -miles distant, but the majority of the population is supplied from -the government condensers. In spite of the desert character of the -soil and the aridity of the climate Aden is not entirely without -natural vegetation. Thomas Anderson of the Bengal Medical Service -enumerates ninety-four species of plants found on the Aden peninsula, -some of which are entirely unique. Most of the plants, however, are -desert-dwellers with sharp thorns, an aromatic odor, and yield gums and -resins. - -The Aden settlement has four centres of population; Steamer-Point, the -Crescent, the town of Maala and the “Camp” or Aden proper. A road, -the only road in fact, extends from Steamer-Point on the west to Aden -proper on the east, and no one can boast of having seen Aden who has -not taken the ride in a _geri_ from the landing-pier to the tanks. The -Aden horses are of all creatures most miserable for the geri-drivers -whip their horses much, but feed them little. The Crescent is a -semi-circular range of houses and shops crowded against the mountain -side; with a Hotel de l’Univers and a Hotel de l’Europe (both equally -“Grand”); cafés, shops, banks, and offices. The post office, hospital, -churches and barracks are further west toward the telegraph-station. A -drive of about two miles brings us to the native town of Maala. Here -the road forks, the lower one leading to the barrier-gate and Sheikh -Othman, and the upper ascending the mountain through the gate of the -fortifications and by a sharp declivity leading down to the town of -Aden. It is not an Oriental town in its administration, but it has all -the motley character of Port Said on its streets. Europeans, Americans, -Africans, Asiatics and mixed races are all represented in the crowd -of the market or the loungers in the streets. The total population is -30,000, including Chinese, Persians, Turks, Egyptians, Somalis, Hindus, -Parsees, Jews and Arabs from every part of the peninsula. Aden is a -great centre for native shipping, and the dhows and buggalows that sail -every year from the Persian Gulf to Yemen and Jiddah alway call at Aden -_en route_. Also from Oman and Hadramaut the modern Sinbads run their -craft into Aden to exchange produce or to lay in supplies for their -voyages to the coast of Africa. - -The distance from Aden to Yemen’s old capital, Sana is nearly 200 -miles in a direct line, but on my second journey thither, in 1894, I -was obliged to take a roundabout journey to Taiz, because of an Arab -uprising. This and the mountainous character of the country made the -distance over 250 miles. This route passes through, or near, all the -important towns of Yemen south of Sana. - -With my Bedouin companion, Nasir, I left Sheikh Othman early on the -second morning of July. We reached a small - -[Illustration: TRAVELLING IN SOUTHERN ARABIA] - -[Illustration: THE KEITH FALCONER MEMORIAL CHURCH IN ADEN] - -village, Wahat, at noon, the thermometer registering 96° in the -shade. After a short rest we mounted the camels at seven o’clock in -the evening for an all-night journey. Our course was through a barren -region, and at daylight we entered Wady Mergia, with scanty vegetation, -resting at a village of the same name under a huge acacia tree. The -next day we entered the mountains, where rich vegetation showed a -cooler climate. We passed several villages, Dar El Kadim, Khoteibah, -Suk-el-Juma and others. As this was said to be a dangerous part of the -road all the caravan, which we joined at Wahat, was on the lookout, -with lighted rope-wicks for their flint-locks swinging from their -shoulders and looking in the dark like so many fireflies. At three -A.M. we had ascended to the head of the wady and rested for the day at -Mabek. All the houses here are of stone, the booths of date-mats and -twigs being only found on the maritime plain of Yemen. During the night -there had been talk among the wild Arabs of the village of holding -me as a hostage to obtain money from the English at Aden! But Nasir -quieted them with a threefold Bedouin oath that I was not a government -official nor an Englishman, but an American traveller. - -The day after leaving Mabek brought us to the beginning of the happy -valleys of Yemen, very different from the torrid coast. A country where -the orange, lemon, quince, grape, mango, plum, apricot, peach, apple, -pomegranate, fig, date, plantain and mulberry, each yield their fruit -in season; where wheat, barley, maize, millet and coffee are staple -products and where there is a glorious profusion of wild flowers—called -“grass” by the unpoetic camel-drivers. A land whose mountains lift up -their heads over 9,000 feet, terraced from chilly top to warm valley -with agricultural amphitheatres, irrigated by a thousand rills and -rivulets, some of them perennial, flowing along artificial channels -or leaping down the rocks in miniature falls. A land where the oriole -hangs her nest on the dark acacia, the wild doves hide in clefts of the -rock and the chameleon sports his colors by the wayside under the tall -flowering cactus. Such is Yemen. The vegetation of Arabia Felix begins -just before reaching Mufallis, on this route, where a Turkish castle -and custom-house proclaim the boundary of Ottoman aggression. - -Beautiful was the air and scenery on our march. Arab peasants were at -work in the fields, plowing[21] with oxen, repairing the walls of the -terraces and opening the watercourses. The women were all unveiled -and had the picturesque costume universal in southern Yemen; their -narrow trousers were fastened at the waist and ankles, while over their -shoulders hung long mantle-like garments, low in the neck, girded, and -fringed at the bottom with embroidered cloth of green or red. Here they -wear a kind of light turban, but on the Hodeidah coast broad-brimmed -straw hats cover the heads of the Yemen belles as they urge their -donkeys to market. - -At sunrise we were in sight of the highest peaks to the left of the -wady-bed. One of them is crowned by a _walli_ or saint’s tomb of Saled -bin Taka. These tombs are common in Yemen and thousands of people -visit them annually to ask intercession, each saint having a special -day in the Moslem calendar. At Mocha the grave of the Arab sheikh -Abu-el-Hassan Shadeli, who first discovered the use of coffee, is -highly honored by distant pilgrims. - -At eight o’clock on the morning of July fourth we reached the _burj_ -called Mufallis and had our first experience of Turkish rule in Yemen. -Unexpectedly we here stumbled upon a Turkish custom-house, which I -had thought was located at Taiz, as the boundary of Turkish Yemen on -my maps did not extend further south. An unmannerly negro, calling -himself Mudeer of Customs, looked out of a port-hole and demanded my -ascent. Through dirt and up darkness I reached his little room and -stated my errand and purpose. No kind words or offered backsheesh -would avail; “_all_ the baggage must be opened and _all_ books were -forbidden entrance into Yemen by a recent order,” so he affirmed. -First, therefore, I unscrewed the covers of the two boxes with an old -bowie-knife. The books, after having been critically examined by eyes -that could not read, were seized; next my saddle-bags were searched, -and every book and map was also confiscated. I was refused even a -receipt for the books taken, and to every plea or question the only -reply was, to go on to Taiz and appeal to the Governor. - -Despoiled of our goods, we left the “custom-house” at eleven A.M., -taking an old man on a donkey armed with a spear, as guide and defence, -because Nasir heard that there was disturbance in this quarter. At two -o’clock we rested for half an hour under the shade of a huge rock in -the bed of the wady, and then warned by peals of thunder, we hastened -on, hoping to reach Hirwa before dark. In less than an hour, however, -the sky was black, rain fell in torrents, and we found it hopeless -to attempt to urge the slow camels on through the wady. There was no -shelter in sight, so we crouched under a small tree halfway up the mud -bank. The rain turned to hail—large stones that frightened the camels -so that they stampeded—and we became thoroughly chilled. - -When the storm ceased, our donkey man came with looks of horror to tell -us that his poor beast had fallen down the slope and was being swept -away by the torrent! What had been a dry river bed half an hour before, -was now a rushing rapids. We decided to climb up the terraces to a -house which we saw on the mountain side. The camels had preceded us, -and after a vigorous climb over mud-fields and up the rocks we reached -the house and hospitality of Sheikh Ali. Over the charcoal fire, after -drinking plenty of _kishr_, (made from the _shell_ of the coffee bean,) -we had to listen to a long discussion concerning the lost donkey. -Finally, matters were smoothed over by my offering to pay one-half the -price of the animal on condition that our guide should proceed with us -to _Hirwa_. - -The next day we were off early. Because of the steep ascents I was -obliged to walk most of the way, and I sprained my ankle severely. -It did not pain me until night, when it was swollen and kept me -“on crutches” for several days. _Hirwa_ is a small Arab village -with a weekly market, and we found shelter in the usual coffee-shop -characteristic of Yemen. The following day we reached _Sept Ez zeilah_, -where we found cleaner quarters than the night before. At about -midnight a war party of Bedouins came and frightened the peaceful -villagers with demands for food, etc. They had just returned from -setting fire to a small castle, and, numbering sixty hungry men, were -not to be intimidated. They were about to force their way into our -quarters when Nasir and the women promised to give them food. Within, -I kept quiet and listened to the noise of grinding and baking and -coffee-pounding. Without, some of the Arabs seized a cow belonging to a -poor woman and butchered it for their feast. At this there was a crying -of women and barking of dogs and swearing of oaths by the Great Allah, -such as I hope never to hear again. Finally, the Arabs went away with -full stomachs, and we slept a broken sleep for fear they might return. -The next day we proceeded to Taiz, and arrived at noon, one week after -leaving Aden. - -The Mutasarrif Pasha, or Governor, was satisfied with my passports, -and expressed his regrets that the books had been seized at Mufallis, -but such was the law. He would, however, allow me to send for them -for inspection. What is written here in four lines was the work and -patience of four weary days! A soldier was sent to Mufallis; I was -obliged to entrust him with money to pay the custom dues; to hire a -camel to carry the books; finally to pay for two sticks of sealing -wax (price in Taiz one rupee) with which to seal the books and maps -lest they be tampered with—all this at the order of the enlightened -government of the Sublime Porte! The first messenger never reached -Mufallis; on the road he was attacked by Arabs, stabbed in the neck, -robbed of his rifle, and carried back to the military hospital at -Taiz. Then there was more delay to find and send a second soldier -with the same camel and money and sealing wax, but with a new rifle. -He returned with the books safely after five days! No Turk could set -a value on a book, and so the law is that books are taxed by weight, -boxes included. The customs receipt was attached for “200 kilograms -Jewish books (at twenty piastres a kilo), value, 4,000 piastres, -and custom dues amounting to 288 piastres.” In the same document I -was spoken of as “the Jew, Ishmail, Dhaif Ullah,”—a rather curious -combination of names. I was called a “Jew” because of the case of -Hebrew New Testaments; Ishmail was the equivalent for Samuel; and Dhaif -Ullah, my Arabic cognomen. - - - - - VI - - YEMEN: THE SWITZERLAND OF ARABIA - - “If the Turks would clear out of Yemen, a wonderful field for commerce - would be thrown open, for the Turkish government is vile and all - cultivators are taxed to an iniquitous extent.”—_Ion Keith Falconer._ - - -While waiting at Taiz I had an opportunity to study Yemen town life -and the system of government, as well as to learn a little about the -cultivation of coffee and kaat, the two chief products of this part of -Yemen. - -Taiz has not often been visited by travellers from the occident, and is -a most interesting place. It is a large fortified village of perhaps -5,000 inhabitants, the residence of a Mutasarrif whose authority -extends from the province of Hodeidah to the Aden frontier including -Mocha and Sheikh Seyyid on the coast, recently abandoned by France. The -place has five gates, one of which has been walled up, and five large -mosques in Byzantine style. The largest Mosque is called El Muzafer, -and has two large minarets and twelve beautiful domes. Taiz was once a -centre of learning and its libraries were celebrated all over Arabia. -Firozabadi, the Noah Webster of the Arabic language, taught in Taiz and -edited his “Ocean” dictionary there. He died at the neighboring town of -Zebid, in 1414 A.D., and his grave is honored by the learned of Yemen. - -The bazaar is not large, but the four European shops kept by Greek -merchants are well supplied with all ordinary articles of civilization. -One public bath, in splendid condition, and a military hospital show -Ottoman occupation. The fort holds perhaps 1,300 soldiers and the -residence of the Mutasarrif is in a beautiful and comfortable little -building outside of the town. The mosques were once grand but are -now ruined and a home for bats; the famous libraries have disappeared -and the subterannean vaults of the largest Mosque formerly used as -porticoes for pupils are now Turkish horse-stables. There is a post -office and telegraph; the post goes once a week to Hodeidah via Zebid -and Beit el Fakih, and the telegraph in the same direction a little -more rapidly when the wires are in order. - -Taiz is girt around by Jebel Sobr, the highest range of mountains in -southern Yemen. Hisn Aroos peak, near the town, has an elevation of -over 7,000 feet. According to Niebuhr and Defler, on a clear day one -can look from the summit of this peak across the lowlands and the Red -Sea into Africa. I was unable to reach the summit as my Arab guide -failed me and the days were misty and frequent rains fell. - -Taiz is the centre of kaat-culture for all Yemen, and coffee comes here -on its way to Hodeidah or Aden. Amid all the wealth of vegetation and -fruitage every plant seems familiar to the tourist save kaat. It is a -shrub whose very name is unknown outside of Yemen, while there it is -known and used by every mother’s son, as well as by the mothers and -daughters themselves. Driving from Aden to Sheikh Othman, one first -learns the _name_. Why are those red flags hoisted near the police -stations, at intervals on the road, and why are they hauled down as -soon as those camels pass? Oh, they are taking loads of kaat for the -Aden market, and the flags are to prevent cheating of the customs. -Over 2,000 camel loads come into Aden every year, and each load passes -through English territory by “block-signal” system, for it is highly -taxed. As to its _use_, step into a kahwah in any part of Yemen shortly -before sunset, and you will see Arabs each with a bundle of green twigs -in his lap, chewing at the leaves of kaat. - -At Taiz I first had an opportunity to meet the Jews of the interior of -Yemen. Altogether they number perhaps 60,000 in the whole province. -They live mostly in the large towns and very few are agriculturists. -They are a despised and down-trodden race, but they say at Sana, that -their condition is not so bad under the Turks as it was under the Arab -rulers before 1871. The accounts of their origin are discrepant. Some -say they are descended from the Jews of the Dispersion, but others -hold that they were immigrants from the North over 900 years ago. -They are more cleanly, more intelligent and more trustworthy than the -Arabs; and although they are out of all communication with the rest of -the world and in ignorance of their European countrymen they are not -ignorant of Hebrew and rabbinic learning. Their synagogue near Taiz is -a low stone building, twenty-five by fifteen feet. For furniture it -has only a few curtains of embroidered texts, a printed diagram of the -ancient candlestick, with the names of the twelve tribes, and a high -reading-desk. Such are all the synagogues of Yemen. - -At Taiz the Jews seemed to have grown content under long centuries of -oppression and taxation. Many of the old Moslem laws against infidels, -such as those forbidding them to _ride_, to carry weapons or wear fine -clothes in public, are still rigorously enforced by custom if not by -the government. The Jew is universally despised, yet he cannot be -spared, for nearly all artisan work is in Jewish hands. The Moslem Arab -has learned nothing from the Jew outside of the Koran; but, alas! the -Jew has imbibed many foolish customs and superstitions foreign to his -creed from Islam. - -When the Hebrew Scriptures reached Taiz I was again disappointed, for -the Governor would not permit the boxes to be opened, but they were to -be sent sealed and under guard to Sana. I afterward learned that the -“guard” was for me as well as the books, and that the soldier carried a -letter with this accusation written: “This is a converted Jew, who is -corrupting the religion of Islam, and sells books to Moslems and Jews.” -I had no alternative but to proceed to Sana; taking a Damar Arab as -servant, having dismissed the Aden camels. - -I left Taiz on a mule July 26th, and arrived at Seyanee the same day. -The following night we reached Ibb. Here I was forced to lodge outside -of the town, as the guard had instructions not to let me “see things.” -I endured this impatiently, until I learned that our servant had been -imprisoned on our arrival because he told me the names of the villages -on the route! I then appealed to the Mayor, and on virtue of my -passports demanded the right of going about the town and the release of -my servant. After some delay, both requests were granted. The incident -is one of many to show the suspicion with which a stranger is regarded -by the authorities in Yemen. On Saturday the soldier and I hastened on -to reach the large town of Yerim before Sunday, and rest there, waiting -for the baggage camel. It was a long ride of twelve hours, but through -a delightful country everywhere fertile and terraced with coffee -plantations and groves of kaat. - -Yerim, with perhaps 300 houses, lies in a hollow of the Sumara range of -mountains. It has a fortress and some houses of imposing appearance, -but the general aspect of the town is miserable. A neighboring marsh -breeds malaria, and the place is proverbially unhealthy in this -otherwise salubrious region. Niebuhr’s botanist, Forskal, died here -on their journey in 1763. The road from Ibb to Yerim has perhaps the -finest scenery of any part of Yemen; never have I seen more picturesque -mountains and valleys, green with verdure and bright with blossoms. -Scabiosa, bluebells, forget-me-nots, golden-rod, four-o’clocks and -large oleander-trees— - - “All earth was full of heaven - And every bush afire with God.” - -The cacti-plants were in full bloom, and measured twenty feet against -the mountain passes. Two thousand feet below one could hear the sound -of the water rushing along the wady-bed or disappearing under the -bridges that span the valleys. While high above, the clouds were half -concealing the summit of the “Gazelle Neck” (Unk el-Gazel). - -Sunday, July 29th, was a cold day at Yerim; early in the morning the -temperature went down to 52°, and at night two blankets were needed. -Not until nine o’clock was it warm enough for the Yerim merchants to -open their shops. - -A Jewish family, en route for Taiz, were stopping with us at the -caravansari, and at night I spoke for over two hours with them and the -Arabs about Christ. There was no interruption, and I was impressed -to see the interest of a Jew and Arab alike in what I told them from -Isaiah liii., reading it in Arabic by the dim candle light, amidst all -the baggage and beasts of an Oriental inn. At the little village of -Khader, eight miles from Waalan, angry words arose from the “guard” -because I tried to speak to a Jew. When I spoke in protest they began -to strike the Jew with the butt end of their rifles,[22] and when the -poor fellow fled, my best defence was silence. On my return journey, I -inadvertently raised trouble again, by mentioning that Jesus Christ and -Moses were _Jews_—which the Arabs considered an insult to the prophets -of God. - -On the road beyond Yerim we passed a large boulder with an irregular -impression on one side. This is called Ali’s footprint, and the Arabs -who pass always anoint it with oil. The steep ascents and descents of -the journey were now behind us. From Yerim on to Sana the plateau is -more level. Wide fields of lentils, barley and wheat take the place of -the groves of kaat and coffee; camels were used for ploughing, and with -their long necks and curious harness, were an odd sight. - -The next halt we made was at Damar, 8,000 feet above sea-level. It is a -large town, with three minaret-mosques and a large bazaar; the houses -are of native rock, three and four-stories high, remarkably clean and -well-built. Inside they are whitewashed, and have the Yemen translucent -slabs of gypsum for window-panes. From Damar the road leads northeast -over Maaber and the Kariet en-Nekil pass to Waalan; thence, nearly due -north, to Sana. From Damar to Waalan is thirty-five miles, and thence -to the capital, eighteen miles more. The roads near the city of Sana -are kept in good repair, although there are no wheeled vehicles, for -the sake of the Turkish artillery. - -On Thursday, August 2d, we entered Sana by the Yemen gate. Three -years before I had entered the city from the other side, coming from -Hodeidah; then in the time of the Arab rebellion and now myself a -prisoner. I was taken to the Dowla and handed over to the care of a -policeman until the Wali heard my case. After finding an old Greek -friend from Aden, who offered to go bail for me, I was allowed liberty, -and for nineteen days was busy seeing the city and visiting the -Jews.[23] - -Sana, anciently called Uzal, and since many centuries the chief city -of Yemen, contains some 50,000 inhabitants and lies stretched out in a -wide, level valley between Jebel Nokoom and the neighboring ranges. It -is 7,648 feet above sea-level. The town is in the form of a triangle, -the eastern point consisting of a large fortress, dominating the town, -and built upon the lowest spur of Nokoom. The town is divided into -three walled quarters, the whole being surrounded by one continuous -wall of stone and brick. They are respectively the city proper, -in which are the government buildings, the huge bazaars, and the -residences of the Arabs and Turks; the Jews’ quarter; and Bir-el-azib, -which lies between the two, and contains gardens and villas belonging -to the richer Turks and Arabs. The city had once great wealth and -prosperity, and to-day remains, next to Bagdad, the most flourishing -city in all Arabia. The shops are well supplied with European goods, -and a large manufacture of silk, jewelry and arms is carried on. The -government quarter, with its cafés, billiard-rooms, large Greek shops, -carriages, bootblacks, and brass-band reminds one of Cairo. Sana has -forty-eight mosques, thirty-nine synagogues, twelve large public-baths, -a military hospital with 200 beds, and is the centre of trade for all -northern Yemen and northwestern Hadramaut, as well as for the distant -villages of Nejran and fertile Wady Dauasir. Arabs from every district -crowd the bazaars, and long strings of camels leave every day for the -Hodeidah coast. - -On August 14th I took an early morning walk to Rhoda, a village about -eight miles north of Sana, and in the midst of beautiful gardens. From -Roda the direct caravan route leads to Nejran, and from the outskirts -of the village, looking north, an inviting picture met the eye. A -fertile plateau stretched out to the horizon, and only two days’ -journey would bring one into the free desert beyond Turkish rule. But -this time the way across the peninsula was closed by my bankruptcy; -robbed at Yerim in the coffee-shop, and already in debt at Sana, it -would have been impossible to proceed, except as a dishonest dervish. - -On the 21st of August I left Sana for Hodeidah, receiving a loan of -twenty dollars from the Ottoman government, to be paid back at the -American consulate. We followed the regular postal route, the same -which I had travelled on my first journey. - -The plateau or table-land between Sana’a and Banàn is a pasture -country. The Bedouins live in the stone-built villages and herd their -immense flocks on the plain; camels, cows and sheep were grazing by -the hundreds and thousands. After Banàn begins the difficult descent -to the coast down breakneck mountain _stairways_ rather than roadways, -over broken bridges, and through natural arches. Fertile, cultivated -mountain slopes were on every side, reminding one of the valleys of -Switzerland. In one district near Suk-el-Khamis the whole mountain-side -for a height of 6,000 feet was terraced from top to bottom. General -Haig wrote of these terraces: “One can hardly realize the enormous -amount of labor, toil and perseverance which these represent. The -terraced walls are usually from five to eight feet in height, but -toward the top of the mountain they are sometimes as much as fifteen -or eighteen feet. They are built entirely of rough stone, laid without -mortar. I reckon on an average that each wall retains a terrace not -more than twice its own height in width, and I do not think I saw a -single breach in one of them unrepaired.”[24] - -In Yemen there are two rainy seasons, in spring and in autumn, so that -there is generally an abundance of water in the numerous reservoirs -stored for irrigation. Yet, despite the extraordinary fertility of the -soil and the surprising industry of the inhabitants, the bulk of the -people are miserably poor, ill-fed and rudely clothed, because they -are crushed down by a heartless system of taxation. Every agricultural -product, implement and process is under the heavy hand of an oppressive -administration and a military occupation that knows no law. The -peasantry are robbed by the soldiers on their way to market, by the -custom-collector at the gate of each city, and by the tax-gatherer -in addition. On the way to Sana my soldier-companion stopped a poor -peasant who was urging on a little donkey loaded with two large baskets -of grapes; he emptied the best of the grapes into his saddle-bags, -and then beat the man and cursed him because some of the grapes were -unripe! No wonder we read of rebellions in Yemen, and no wonder that -intense hatred lives in every Arab against the very name of Turk. - -From Suk-el-Khamis, a dirty mountain village,[25] with an elevation -of over 9,500 feet, the road leads by Mefak and Wady Zaun to the -peculiarly located village of Menakha. At an altitude of 7,600 feet -above sea-level, it is perched on a narrow ridge between two mountain -ranges. On either side of the one street that forms the backbone of -the summit are precipices 2,000 feet deep. So narrow is the town that -there are places where one can stand and gaze down both sides of the -abyss at the same time. To reach it from the west there is only one -path zigzagging up the mountain-side, and from the east it can only -be approached by a narrow track cut in the face of the precipice and -winding up for an ascent of 2,500 feet. Menakha is the centre of the -coffee trade; it has a population of 10,000 or more, one-third of which -are Jews. There are four Greek merchants, the Turks had 2,000 troops -garrisoned in the town, and the bazaars were equal to those of Taiz. -Its exact elevation is given by Defler, after eighteen observations, as -7,616 feet above sea-level. - -From Menakha to the coast is only two long days’ journey; three by -camel. The first stage is to Hejjeila, at the foot of the high ranges, -thence to Bajil, a village of 2,000 people, and along the barren, hot -plain to Hodeidah. At Bajil the people are nearly all shepherds, and -the main industry is dyeing cloth and weaving straw. Here one sees -the curious Yemen straw hats worn by the women, and here also the -peasant-maidens wear no veils. Yet they are of purer heart and life -than the black-clouted and covered women of the Turkish towns. - -Hodeidah by the sea is very like Jiddah in its general appearance. The -streets are narrow, crooked and indescribably filthy. The “Casino” is -a sort of Greek hotel for strangers, and the finest house in the city -is that of Sidi Aaron, near the sea, with its fine front and marble -courtyard. The population is of a very mixed character; east of the -city in a separate quarter live the _Akhdam_ Arabs, whose origin is -uncertain, but who are considered outcasts by all the other Arabs. They -are not allowed to carry arms and no Arab tribe intermarries with them. - -From Hodeidah there is a regular line of small steamers to Aden, and -the Egyptian Red Sea coasting steamers also call here fortnightly. The -trade of Hodeidah was once flourishing, but here too Turkish misrule -has brought deadness and dullness into business, and taxation has -crushed industrial enterprise. - -[Illustration: AN ARABIAN COMPASS.] - - - - - VII - - THE UNEXPLORED REGIONS OF HADRAMAUT - - “As when to them who sail - Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are past - Mozambic, off at sea northeast winds blow - Sabean odors from the spicy shore - Of Araby the blest.”—_Milton._ - - -We must take at least a glimpse of the almost unknown region called -Hadramaut.[26] This is a strip of territory stretching between the -great desert and the sea from Aden eastward to Oman. Our knowledge of -the interior of this region was almost a perfect blank until some light -was thrown on it by the enterprising traveller A. Von Wrede in 1843. -The coast is comparatively well known, at least as far as Makalla and -Shehr. The land rises from the coast in a series of terraces to Jebel -Hamra (5,284 feet), which is connected on the northeast with Jebel -Dahura, over 8,000 feet high. - -Adolph Von Wrede sailed from Aden to Makalla and thence penetrated -inland as far as Wady Doan the most fertile spot of all South Arabia. -This wady flows northward through the land of the Bni Yssa and the -district is bordered on the west by Belad-el-Hasan and on the east by -Belad-el-Hamum. But how far this region extends northward and whether -the sandy desert of El Ahkaf (quicksands) really begins with the Wady -Rakhia, a branch of the Doan are points on which Von Wrede throws no -light and which are still uncertain. In 1870 the French Jew, Joseph -Halévy, made a bold attempt to penetrate into Hadramaut from Yemen. -Since then little was added to our knowledge of Hadramaut until 1893 -when Shibam, the residence of the most powerful Sultan of Hadramaut -was visited by Theodore Bent and his wife. In 1897 they made a second -journey into the same region which cost Mr. Bent his health and -afterward his life. From the account of these journeys we quote a few -paragraphs which set forth clearly the interesting character of this -almost unknown country.[27] - -“Immediately behind Makalla rise grim arid mountains of a reddish hue, -and the town is plastered against this rich-tinged background. By the -shore, like a lighthouse, stands the white minaret of the Mosque, the -walls and pinnacles of which are covered with dense masses of seabirds -and pigeons; not far from this the huge palace where the Sultan dwells -reminds one of a whitewashed mill with a lace-like parapet; white, red -and brown are the dominant colors of the town, and in the harbor the -Arab dhows with fantastic sterns rock to and fro in the unsteady sea, -forming altogether a picturesque and unusual scene. - -“Nominally Makalla is ruled over by a Sultan of the Al Kaiti family, -whose connection with India has made them very English in their -sympathies, and his Majesty’s general appearance, with his velvet coat -and jewelled daggers, is far more Indian than Arabian. Really the most -influential people in the town are the money-grubbing Parsees from -Bombay, and it is essentially one of those commercial centres where -Hindustani is spoken nearly as much as Arabian. We were lodged in a -so-called palace hard by the bazaar, which reeked with mysterious -smells and was alive with flies; so we worked hard to get our -preparations made and to make our sojourn in this uncongenial burning -spot as short as possible.... - -“Leaving these villages behind us, we climbed rapidly higher and -higher, until, at an elevation of over 5,000 feet, we found ourselves -at last on a broad level plateau, stretching as far as the eye could -reach in every direction, and shutting off the Hadramaut from the -coast. This is the ‘mons excelsus’ of Pliny; here we have the vast area -where once flourished the frankincense and the myrrh. Of the latter -shrub there is plenty left, and it is still tapped for its odoriferous -sap; but of the former we only saw one specimen on the plateau, for in -the lapse of ages the wealth of this country has steadily disappeared; -further east, however, in the Mahra country, there is, I understand, a -considerable quantity left. - -“Near Hajarein are many traces of the olden days when the frankincense -trade flourished, and when the town of Doani, which name is still -retained in the Wady Doan, was a great emporium for this trade. Acres -and acres of ruins, dating from the centuries immediately before -our era, lie stretched along the valley here, just showing their -heads above the weight of superincumbent sand which has invaded -and overwhelmed the past glories of this district. The ground lies -strewn with fragments of Himyaritic inscriptions, pottery, and other -indications of a rich harvest for the excavator, but the hostility -of the Nahad tribe prevented us from paying these ruins more than a -cursory visit, and even to secure this we had to pay the Sheikh of the -place nineteen dollars; and his greeting was ominous as he angrily -muttered, ‘Salaam to all who believe Mohammed is the true prophet.’ - -“At Assab they would not allow us to dip our vessels in their well, -nor take our repast under the shadow of their Mosque: even the women -of this village ventured to insult us, peeping into our tent at night, -and tumbling over the guys in a manner most aggravating to the weary -occupants. - -“Our troubles on this score were happily terminated at Haura, where -a huge castle belonging to the Al Kaiti family dominates a humble -village surrounded by palm groves. Without photographs to bear out -my statement, I should hardly dare to describe the magnificence of -these castles in the Hadramaut. That at Haura is seven stories high, -and covers fully an acre of ground beneath the beetling cliff, with -battlements, towers, and machicolations bearing a striking likeness to -Holyrood. But Holyrood is built of stone, and Haura, save for the first -story, is built of sun-dried bricks; and if Haura stood where Holyrood -does, or in any other country save dry, arid Arabia, it would long ago -have melted away.... - -“One of the most striking features of these Arabian palaces is the -wood-carving. The doors are exquisitely decorated with intricate -patterns, and with a text out of the Koran carved on the lintel; the -locks and keys are all of wood, and form a study for the carver’s art, -as do the cupboards, the niches, the supporting beams and the windows, -which are adorned with fretwork instead of glass. The dwelling-rooms -are above, the ground floor being exclusively used for merchandise, and -the first floor for the domestics.” - -Concerning the chief town of the interior of Hadramaut Mr. Bent writes -as follows: - -“Then he sent us to reside for five more days in his capital of -Shibam, which is twelve miles distant from Al Katan, and is one of -the principal towns in the Hadramaut valley. It is built on rising -ground in the centre of the narrowest point of the valley, so that no -one can pass between it and the cliffs of the valley out of gunshot -of the walls. This rising ground has doubtless been produced by many -generations of towns built of sun-dried bricks, for it is the best -strategical point in the neighborhood. Early Arab writers tell us that -the Himyarite population of this district came here when they abandoned -their capital at Sabota, or Shabwa, further up the valley, early in our -era, but we found evident traces of an earlier occupation than this—an -inscription and a seal with the name ‘Shibam’ engraved on it, which -cannot be later than the third century, B.C. And as a point for making -up the caravans which started from the frankincense-growing district, -Shibam must always have been very important. - -“The town of Shibam offers a curious appearance as you approach; above -its mud-brick walls with bastions and watch towers appear the tall -whitewashed houses of the wealthy, which make it look like a large -round cake with sugar on it. Outside the walls several industries are -carried on, the chief of which is the manufacture of indigo dye. The -small leaves are dried in the sun and powdered and then put into huge -jars—which reminded us of the Forty Thieves—filled with water. Next -morning these are stirred with long poles, producing a dark blue frothy -mixture; this is left to settle, and then the indigo is taken from the -bottom and spread out on cloths to drain; the substance thus procured -is taken home and mixed with dates and saltpetre. Four pounds of this -indigo to a gallon of water makes the requisite and universally used -dye for garments, the better class of which are calendered by beating -them with wooden hammers on stones.” - -Of the coast town of Shehr and its ruler Mr. Bent says: - -“Shehr is a detestable place by the sea, set in a wilderness of sand. -Once it was the chief commercial port of the Hadramaut valley, but -now Makalla has quite superseded it, for Shehr is nothing but an open -roadstead and its buildings are now falling into ruins. Ghalib, the -eldest son and heir of the chief of the Al Kaiti family, rules here as -the viceregent of his father, who is in India as jemadar or general of -the Arab troops, chiefly all Hadrami, in the service of the Nizam of -Hyderabad. Ghalib is quite an Oriental dandy, who lived a life of some -rapidity when in India, so that his father thought it as well to send -him to rule in Shehr, where the capabilities for mischief are not so -many as at Bombay. He dresses very well in various damask silk coats -and faultless trousers; his swords and daggers sparkle with jewels; in -his hand he flourishes a golden-headed cane; and, as the water is hard -at Shehr, he sends his dirty linen in dhows to Bombay to be washed.” - -The Arabs of Hadramaut have been still more in contact with Java -than with India. Large colonies of Hadramis emigrated to the Dutch -Archipelago more than a century ago; intermarriage between the Javanese -and the Arabs is very common; and the Mohammedanism of the Dutch East -Indies is entirely of the Hadramaut type. These interesting facts were -first bought to light by Van den Berg, a Dutch scholar in his elaborate -work on this province of Arabia and the Arab colonies in Java.[28] -His account of Hadramaut is a compilation from the lips of the Arab -immigrants, but the description of the manners and customs of the -people and their religious peculiarities is from personal observation. -Altogether, in spite of minor geographical inaccuracies, the book is -the best single volume on Southern Arabia and tells the story of Islam -in the Dutch Archipelago as it is to-day. The Arabs have always been a -strong race at colonizing but it is well to note that the influence of -Hadramaut on Java and Sumatra to-day is not less than that of Oman on -Zanzibar and East Africa in the last century. Even Hadramaut will not -always remain undiscovered and unremembered. The incense-country of -antiquity has a future before it even as it has had a glorious past. - -[Illustration: A CASTLE IN HADRAMAUT] - - - - - VIII - - MUSCAT AND THE COASTLANDS OF OMAN - - “Oman is separated from the rest of Arabia by a sandy desert. It - is, in fact, as far as communication with the rest of the world is - concerned, an island with the sea on one side and the desert on - the other. Hence its people are even more primitive, simple and - unchanged in their habits than the Arabs generally. Along the coast, - however, especially at Muscat they are more in contact with the outer - world.”—_General Haig._ - - -In Arab nomenclature Oman applies only to a small district in the -vicinity of Muscat, but the name is generally given to the entire -southeastern section of the Arabian peninsula, including everything -east of a line drawn from the Kuria-Muria islands to the peninsula -of Katar, anciently called Bahrein. Thus defined it is the largest -province of Arabia and in some respects the most interesting. -Historically, politically and geographically Oman has always been -isolated from the other provinces. Turkish rule never extended this far -nor did the later caliphs long exercise their authority here. The whole -country has for centuries been under independent rulers called Imams or -Seyyids. The population, which is wholly Arab and Mohammedan, (save in -the coast towns) was derived originally from two different stocks known -to the Arabs as Kahtani and Adnani or the Yemeni and Muadi. These names -have changed since the beginning of the eighteenth century to Hinani -and Ghaffiri. The Yemen tribes came first and are most numerous. The -two rival races have been in open and continuous feud and antagonism -and have kept the country in perpetual turmoil. They even inhabit -separate quarters in some of the towns, according to Colonel Miles. In -Somail, about fifty miles inland from Muscat a broad road marks the -division between the two clans. These two parent stocks are subdivided -into some 200 different tribes and these again into sub-tribes or -“houses.” Each family-group has its own Sheikh, a hereditary position -assumed by the eldest male in the family. - -Very few of the tribes of Oman are nomadic; the greater part live in -towns and villages along the wady-beds. With the exception of fruits -of which there is a great variety and abundance, dates are the sole -food product and the chief export of the province. Rice is imported -from India. The total population of Oman is estimated by Colonel -Miles not to exceed 1,500,000. There are numerous towns of 5,000 to -10,000 inhabitants; Muscat and Mattra are the chief towns on the -coast, and are practically united as they are only two miles apart. -The climate of Oman on the coast is excessively hot and moist during a -large part of the year, although the rainfall here is only six to ten -inches annually; in the interior the heat is greatly tempered by the -elevation, the rainfall is much greater and the climate as pleasant as -in the highlands of Yemen. - -The Omanese state was at its greatest height of power at the beginning -of the present century. Then the Sultans of Muscat exercised rule as -far as Bahrein to the northwest, had possession of Bunder Abbas and -Linga in Persia, and called Socotra and Zanzibar their own. At this -time the Oman Arabs began their extensive journeys in Africa and, urged -by the enormous profits of the slave-trade, explored every corner of -the great interior of the Dark Continent. At present the authority of -the Sultan at Muscat, Seyyid Feysul bin Turki, does not extend far -beyond the capital and its suburbs. - -In the early years of the Oman Sultanate, Nizwa was the capital, -afterward Rastak became the seat of government, but since 1779, -Muscat has been at once the capital and the key, the gateway and the -citadel of the whole country. On approaching Muscat in a British India -steamer, the land is first sighted, looming up in one mass of dark -mountain ranges; closer, one portion of this mass directly over the -town of Muscat is seen to be of a dark brown color, crag on crag, -serrated and torn in a fantastic manner and giving the harbor a most -picturesque appearance. The town itself shows white against the dark -massive rocks, on the summits of which are perched numerous castles and -towers. But, though presenting a pleasing prospect from a distance, a -nearer view reveals the usual features of large Oriental towns,—narrow, -dirty streets, unattractive buildings, and masses of crumbling walls -under the torrid heat of a burning sun and amid all the sweltering -surroundings of a damp climate. - -The heat of Muscat is proverbial. John Struys, the Dutchman, who -visited this town in 1672, wrote that it was “so incredibly hot and -scorching that strangers are as if they were in boiling cauldrons or -sweating tubs.” A Persian, named Abder-Razak, being a Persian, was able -to surpass all others in exaggerated description and wrote of Muscat in -1442, “The heat was so intense that it burned the marrow in the bones, -the sword in its scabbard melted like wax, and the gems that adorned -the handle of the dagger were reduced to coal. In the plains the chase -became a matter of perfect ease, for the desert was filled with roasted -gazelles!” It is said that a black bulb thermometer has registered 189° -F. in the sun at Muscat and 107° even at night, is not unusual during -the hottest part of the year. The bare rocks form a parabolic mirror to -the sun’s rays from the south and west; add to this the facts that the -hills shut off the breezes and that Muscat lies on the Tropic of Cancer -in the zone of greatest heat. According to the witness of a resident, -“the climate of Muscat is bad beyond all description. For about three -months in the year, from December to March, it is tolerably cool at -night but after the latter month the heat becomes intense and makes -Muscat rank but little after the Infernal Regions. There is a short -break in the hot weather about the middle of July which generally lasts -a month.” - -[Illustration: THE HARBOR AND CASTLE AT MUSCAT] - -[Illustration: READY FOR A CAMEL RIDE IN THE DESERT] - -The most conspicuous buildings of Muscat are the two forts, the relics -of the Portuguese dominion, which stand out boldly on each side of -the town about 100 feet above the sea. They command not only the -sea-approach, but the town itself and are only accessible by a fine -stairway cut out of the natural rock. The guns that bristle from the -forts are nearly all old and comparatively harmless. Several of them -are of brass and bear the royal arms of Spain; one is dated 1606. -In the fort to the right of the harbor, one can still see the ruins -of a Portuguese chapel. When Pelly visited it in 1865 the following -inscription was legible. - - AVE MAR. GRASA P._EA ☐s TECUM Etc.... - -Its translation given by him reads: “Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord -is with thee. Don Phillip III., King of Spain, Don Juan de Acuna of his -council of war and his captain-general of the artillery in the year -1605, in the eighth year of his reign in the crown of Portugal, ordered -through Don Quarte Menezes, his commissioner of India, that this -fortress should be built.” - -The Sultan has also a town residence in half decay like all the other -stone-built but mud-cemented houses of the natives. The only residences -well-built and durable are those of the British resident and the -American consul. The former occupies the choice location, in a rock -cleft, where breezes blow from two directions. The bazaar of Muscat -has little to boast of; one of the chief industries is the manufacture -of _Hilawi_ or Muscat candy-paste, which to the acquired taste is -delicious, but to the stranger smells of rancid butter and tastes like -sweet wagon-grease. - -The town is cut off from the plain behind by a substantially built wall -which stretches from hill to hill. This wall is pierced with two gates -which are always guarded and closed a couple of hours after sunset. -The moat outside the wall is dry. Beyond it are houses and hundreds of -mat huts principally inhabited by Beluchis and Negroes. The American -mission house is also outside of the wall, in this quarter. About -a third of a mile beyond are the gardens of Muscat and the wells, -protected by a tower and guard. “The gardens” are always visited at -sunset by the strollers for exercise, but they are hardly large enough -“to supply a week’s food for 100 self-respecting locusts of normal -appetite.” - -The population of Muscat is of very mixed character, Arabs, Beluchis, -Banian-Traders, Negroes, Persians, and every other nation that -frequents this port of transit. The Arabic spoken in all Oman is a -dialect quite different from that of Nejd or Yemen but the Arabic of -Muscat is full of pigeon-English and pigeon-Hindustani. The extensive -and long intercourse with Zanzibar and East Africa has also had its -influence on the speech and habits of the Muscat Arab trader. The -present trade is still very considerable, although less than a century -ago. It is mostly with India, there being little direct trade with -England. The chief exports are dates, fruit, shark-fins, fish, and -salt; the imports, rice, sugar, piece-goods, coffee, silk, petroleum -and arms. The largest export is of dates which nearly all go to the -American Market. Besides the large number of steamers which call -at this port, the native merchants own several old British sailing -vessels, some of them noted clippers in their day, which make one or -two voyages a year and bring profit to their owners. Native boats also -transport cargoes landed at Muscat, to the less frequented ports. This -adds to the importance of Muscat as an _entrepôt_ for Oman. Mattra -is the terminus of the caravan-routes from the interior and is in -communication with Muscat by a narrow mountain path and by sea. - -The so-called Pirate coast stretches along the northern boundary of -Oman on the Persian Gulf from El Katar to Ras Musendum and was, even -as early as Ptolemy’s day, inhabited by wild, lawless Arabs. On his -map of Arabia they are named _Ichthiophagoi_, or fish-eaters. Niebuhr -wrote of this part of Oman, “Fishes are so plentiful upon the coast -and so easily caught, as to be used not only for feeding cows, asses, -and other domestic animals, but even as manure for the fields.” Sir -John Malcolm, in his quaint sketches of Persia wrote forty years ago: -“I asked who were the inhabitants of the barren shore of Arabia that we -saw. He answered with apparent alarm, ‘they are of the sect of Wahabees -and are called Jowasimee. But God preserve us from them, for they are -monsters. Their occupation is piracy, and their delight murder, and to -make it worse they give you the most pious reasons for every villainy -they commit. They abide by the letter of the sacred volume, rejecting -all commentaries and traditions. If you are their captive and offer -all to save your life they say, No! It is written in the Koran that it -is not lawful to plunder the living; but we are not prohibited from -stripping the dead—so saying they knock you on the head.’” - -Thanks to English commerce and gunboats these fanatic Wahabis have -become more tame, and most of them have long given up piracy and turned -to pearl-diving for a livelihood. Hindu traders have settled among -them, foreign commerce reaches their bazaars, and the black tent is -making room for the three or four important towns of Dabai, Sharka, Abu -Thubi and Ras-el-Kheima, with growing population and increasing wealth. - -The cape of Musendum and the land back of it, called Ras-el-Jebel is -very mountainous, but beyond Ras-el-Kheima, the coast is low and flat -all the way up the gulf. The villages are all built near the entrance -of salt-water creeks or marshes, which serve as harbors at high-tide. -For the most part the coast is unfertile, but near Sharka there are -palm-groves, and further inland are oases. The islands off this coast -are most of them uninhabited. - -The Batina coast is the exception to all the maritime plains that -surround so large a part of the peninsula; in western and eastern -Arabia these low sandy plains are nearly barren of all vegetation, but -here extensive date plantations and gardens extend almost to the very -ocean beach. Back of the rising plain are the lofty ranges of Jebel -Akhdar. This fertile coast begins at Sib, about twenty-five miles from -Muscat, and extends for 150 miles to the neighborhood of Khor Kalba -with an average width of about twelve miles. It has many towns and -villages; the principal ones are the following. Sib is a scattered town -chiefly built of mat-huts with two small detached forts. It has a very -small bazaar, but extensive date-groves and gardens. Back of Sib on the -way up the coast one sees the great bluff of Jebel Akhdar, 9,900 feet -high, and visible over 100 miles out at sea. Barka has a lofty Arab -fortress, but for the rest mat-huts among date-plantations characterize -its general appearance. Large quantities of shell fish are collected -and sent inland; the bazaar is good and some Banian traders are settled -here. Passing several islands the next town is Suaik. After it the -larger town of Sohar, with perhaps 4,000 people. This town is walled -with a high fort in the middle, the residence of the Sheikh. A high -conical peak, of light color, rises conspicuously about twelve miles -west of the town, and with the surrounding date gardens and other trees -makes a pretty picture, altogether more green than one would expect on -Arabian coasts. Beyond Sohar the chief villages are, in order, Shinas, -Al Fujaira, Dibba. The two latter are already beyond the Batina and are -between the high cliffs and the deep sea. - -Going from southeast Muscat down the coast toward Ras-el-Had we -first pass the little village of Sudab and Bunder Jissa. The latter -is of interest as the place the French were trying to acquire for a -coaling-station from the Sultan of Muscat last year. It has a good -anchorage, is only five miles from Muscat, and an island precipice, -140 feet high, guards the entrance. After this, Karyat, Taiwa, Kalhat -and smaller villages passed, we reach Sur. This large, double town is -situated on a khor or backwater, with two forts to the westward. The -inhabitants, numbering perhaps 8,000, consist of two clans of the Bni -Bu Ali and the Bni Janaba, often at feud with each other. The country -inland is partly cultivated and date groves abound. Sur has always been -a place of trade and enterprise and its buggalows visit India, Zanzibar -and the Persian Gulf. The people are all bold sailors since many -generations. But Sur also has the unenviable reputation of being even -now the centre of illicit slave-trading. Beyond Sur is the headland of -Jebel Saffan and Ras-el-Had, the easternmost point of Arabia, almost -reaching the sixtieth degree of longitude. - -For a knowledge of the coast beyond Ras-el-Had we are indebted to the -papers of Assistant Surgeon H.J. Carter in the journal of the Bombay -branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.[29] The two great Arab tribes -that dwell on this coast are the Mahrah and the Gharah; the former -really belong to Hadramaut, but the boundaries drawn on the maps are -purely artificial and have no significance. Neither tribe is dependent -on the Oman Sultan or acknowledges any allegiance to him. The Mahrah -are descended from the ancient Himyarites and occupy a coast-line of -nearly 140 miles from Saihut to Ras Morbat; their chief town is Damkut -(Dunkot) on Kamar bay. In stature the Mahrahs are smaller than most -Arabs, and by no means handsome; in their peculiar mode of Bedouin -salutation they put their noses side by side and breathe softly! They -subsist by fishing and are miserably poor; their plains, mountains -and valleys, except close to Damkut, are sandy and barren. Religion -they have scarcely any, and Carter says that they do not even know the -Moslem prayers, and are utterly ignorant of the teachings of Mohammed. -Their dialect is soft and sweet, and they themselves compare it to -the language of the birds; it is evidently a corrupted form of the -ancient Himyaric and therefore of great importance in the study of -philology.[30] - -The Gharah tribe inhabit the coast between Moseirah island and the -Kuria-Muria islands. Their country is mountainous and cavernous and -consists of a white stratified limestone formation 4,000 or 5,000 feet -above the sea-level. The upper part of the mountains are covered with -good pasturage and their slopes with a dense thicket of small trees -among which frankincense and other gum trees are plentiful. The whole -tribe are _troglodytes_, “cave-dwellers,” since nature gives them -better dwellings than the best mud-hut, and cooler than the largest -tent of Kedar. They are largely nomadic, however, and shift from cave -to cave in their wanderings. Their wardrobe is not an incumbrance as -it consists of a single piece of coarse blue cotton wrapped around -the loins like a short kilt. The women wear a loose frock of the same -texture and color with wide sleeves, reaching a little below the knee -in front and trailing on the ground behind; the veil is unknown. -Children go about entirely naked. Both men and women tattoo their -cheeks. For weapons they have swords, spears, daggers, and matchlocks. -Their food consists of milk, flesh and honey with the wild fruits of -the mountains. - -This entire region has been justly celebrated for honey since the days -of the Greek geographers who enumerate honey and frankincense as its -chief products. The wild honey of South Arabia collected from the rocks -and packed in large dry gourds, is fit for an epicure. On Ptolemy’s map -of Arabia the region inland from this coast is called _Libanotopheros -Regio_, the place of incense; and by Pliny is termed _regio thurifera_, -the region of frankincense. From the earliest times this has been the -country that produces real frankincense in abundance. Once its export -was a source of wealth to the inhabitants, for incense was used in -the temples of Egypt and India as well as by the Jews, and by all -the nations of antiquity. So important was this commerce in the early -history of the world that Sprenger devotes several pages in his Ancient -Geography of Arabia to describing the origin, extent, and influence of -frankincense on civilization. The Arabs were then the general transport -agents between the east and the west, _i.e._, India and Egypt. The -Queen of Sheba’s empire grew rich in frankincense-trade; she brought -to Solomon “spices in abundance,” nor was there “any such spice” or -brought in “such abundance” as that which Queen Sheba gave to Solomon. -(B.C. cir. 992.) - -The rise of Islam, the overthrow of the old Himyarite kingdom, the -discovery of the passage round the Cape of Good Hope, all these -coöperated to destroy the ancient importance and prosperity of Southern -Arabia. At present, frankincense is still exported, but not in large -quantities. The gum is procured by making incisions in the bark of the -shrub in May and December. On its first appearance it comes forth white -as milk, but soon hardens and discolors. It is then collected by men -and boys, employed to look after the trees by the different families -who own the land on which they grow. - -[Illustration: A BRANCH OF THE INCENSE TREE.] - - - - - IX - - THE LAND OF THE CAMEL - - “To see real live dromedaries my readers must, I fear, come to - Arabia, for these animals are not often to be met with elsewhere, - not even in Syria; and whoever wishes to contemplate the species - in all its beauty, must prolong his journey to Oman, which is for - dromedaries, what Nejd is for horses, Cashmere for sheep, and Tibet - for bulldogs.”—_Palgrave._ - - -All Oman, but especially the region just described, is called among the -Arabs _Um-el-ibl_, “mother of the camel.” Palgrave, Doughty and other -Arabian travellers agree that the Oman dromedary is the prince of all -camel-breeds, and Doughty says they are so highly esteemed at Mecca as -to fetch three times the price of other camels. - -Unless one knows something about the camel one can neither understand -the Arab nor his language; without the camel, life in a large part of -Arabia would at present be impossible; without the camel the Arabic -language would be vastly different. According to Hammer Purgstall, the -Arabic dictionaries give this animal 5,744 different names; there is -not a page in the lexicon but has some reference to the camel. - -The Arabs highly value the camel, but do not admire its form and shape. -There is an Arab tradition, cited in Burton’s “Gold Mines of Midian,” -to the effect that when Allah determined to create the horse, He called -the South Wind and said, “I desire to draw from thee a new being, -condense thyself by parting with thy fluidity.” The Creator then took -a handful of this element, blew upon it the breath of life, and the -noble quadruped appeared. But the horse complained against his Maker. -His neck was too short to reach the distant grass blades on the march; -his back had no hump to steady a saddle; his hoofs were sharp and sank -deep into the sand; and he added many similar grievances. Whereupon -Allah created the camel to prove the foolishness of his complaint. The -horse shuddered at the sight of what he wanted to become, and this is -the reason every horse starts when meeting its caricature for the first -time. The camel may not be beautiful, (although the Arabic lexicon -shows that the words for “_pretty_” and “_camel_” are related) but he -is surpassingly useful. - -This animal is found in Persia, Asia Minor, Afghanistan, Beluchistan, -Mongolia, Western China, Northern India, Syria, Turkey, North Africa -and parts of Spain, but nowhere so generally or so finely developed -as in Arabia. The two main species, not to speak of varieties, are -the Southern, Arabian one-humped camel and the Northern, Bactrian -two-humped camel. Each is specially adapted to its locality. The -Bactrian camel is long-haired, tolerant of the intense cold of the -steppes and is said to eat snow when thirsty. The Arabian species is -short-haired, intolerant of cold, but able to endure thirst and extreme -heat. It is incredible to Arabs that any camel-kind should have a -double hump. A camel differs from a dromedary in nothing save blood -and breed. The camel is a pack-horse; the dromedary a race-horse. The -camel is thick-built, heavy-footed, ungainly, jolting; the dromedary -has finer hair, lighter step, is easy of pace and more enduring of -thirst. A caravan of camels is a freight-train; a company of Oman -_thelul_-riders is a limited express. The ordinary caravan travels -six hours a day and three miles an hour, but a good dromedary can -run seventy miles a day on the stretch. A tradesman from Aneyza told -Doughty that he had ridden from El Kasim to Taif and back, a distance -of over 700 miles, in fifteen days! Mehsan Allayda once mounted his -dromedary after the Friday midday prayer at El-Aly and prayed the next -Friday in the great Mosque at Damascus about 440 miles distant. The -Haj-road post-rider at Ma’an can deliver a message at Damascus, it is -said, at the end of three days; the distance is over 200 miles. - -The Arabs have a saying that “the camel is the greatest of all -blessings given by Allah to mankind.” One is not surprised that the -meditative youth of Mecca who led the camels of Khadiyah, to Syria and -back by the desert way, should appeal to the unbelievers in Allah and -His prophet in the words, “_And do ye not look then at the camel how -she is created?_” (Surah lxxxviii. 17 of the Koran.) - -To describe the camel is to describe God’s goodness to the -desert-dwellers. Everything about the animal shows evident design. His -long neck, gives wide range of vision in desert marches and enables him -to reach far to the meagre desert shrubs on either side of his pathway. -The cartilaginous texture of his mouth, enables him to eat hard and -thorny plants—the pasture of the desert. His ears are very small, and -his nostrils large for breathing, but are specially capable of closure -by valve-like folds against the fearful Simoon. His eyes are prominent, -but protected by a heavy overhanging upper-lid, limiting vision upward -thus guarding from the direct rays of the noon sun. His cushioned feet -are peculiarly adapted for ease of the rider and the animal alike. -Five horny pads are given him to rest on when kneeling to receive a -burden or for repose on the hot sand. His hump is not a fictional but a -_real_ and acknowledged reserve store of nutriment as well as nature’s -packsaddle for the commerce of ages. His water reservoirs in connection -with the stomach, enable him when in good condition to travel for -five days without water. Again, the camel alone of all ruminants has -incisor-teeth in the upper jaw, which, with the peculiar structure of -his other teeth, make his bite, the animal’s first and main defence, -most formidable. The skeleton of the camel is full of proofs of design. -Notice, for example, the arched backbone constructed in such a way -as to sustain the greatest weight in proportion to the span of the -supports; a strong camel can bear 1,000 pounds’ weight, although the -usual load in Oman is not more than 600 pounds. - -The camel is a _domestic_ animal in the full sense of the word, -for the Arabian domicile is indebted to the camel for nearly all it -holds. All that can be obtained from the animal is of value. Fuel, -milk, excellent hair for tents, ropes, shawls and coarser fabrics are -obtained from the living animal; and flesh-food, leather, bones and -other useful substances from the dead. Even the footprints of the camel -though soon obliterated, are of special value in the desert. A lighter -or smaller foot would leave no tracks, but the camel’s foot leaves -data for the Bedouin science of _Athar_—the art of navigation for the -ship of the desert. Camel tracks are gossip and science, history and -philosophy to the Arab caravan. A camel-march is the standard measure -of distance in all Arabia; and the price of a milch-camel the standard -of value in the interior. When they have little or no water the -miserable nomads rinse their hands in camel’s water and the nomad women -wash their babes in it. Camel’s-milk is the staple diet of thousands in -Arabia even though it be bitter because of wormwood pasturage. - -As to the character of the camel and its good or evil nature -authorities differ. Lady Ann Blunt considers the camel the most abused -and yet the most patient animal in existence. Palgrave, on the other -hand, thus describes the stupidity and ugly temper of the beast: “I -have, while in England, heard and read more than once of the docile -camel. If docile means stupid, well and good; in such a case the camel -is the very model of docility. But if the epithet is intended to -designate an animal that takes an interest in its rider so far as a -beast can, that obeys from a sort of submissive or half fellow-feeling -with its master, like the horse and elephant, then I say that the camel -is by no means docile, very much the contrary. He will never attempt -to throw you off his back, such a trick being far beyond his limited -comprehension; but if you fall off, he will never dream of stopping for -you; and if turned loose it is a thousand to one he will never find -his way back to his accustomed home or pasture. One only symptom will -he give that he is aware of his rider, and that is when the latter is -about to mount him, for on such an occasion, instead of addressing him -in the style of Balaam’s more intelligent beast, ‘Am not I thy camel -upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day?’ he -will bend back his long snaky neck toward his master, open his enormous -jaws to bite, if he dared, and roar out a tremendous sort of groan, as -if to complain of some entirely new and unparalleled injustice about -to be done him. In a word he is from first to last an undomesticated -and savage animal rendered serviceable by stupidity alone. Neither -attachment nor even habit can impress him; never tame, though not -wide-awake enough to be exactly wild.” We can bear witness that the -camels we have ridden in Hassa and Yemen were altogether more kindly -than the ugly creature of Palgrave. - -The chief authorities on the interior of Oman were, until recent date, -Niebuhr, Wellsted (1835), Whitelock (1838), Eloy (1843) and Palgrave, -(1863). Palgrave, however, only visited the coast and his account of -the interior and its history is pure romance. Later travellers have -visited the chief cities of Jebel Achdar and corroborated the accuracy -of Lieutenant Wellsted in his “Travels in Arabia.” Unfortunately -Wellsted’s acquaintance even with colloquial Arabic was very limited -and he frankly avows that he encountered serious difficulties in -understanding the people. “Wellsted’s map,” says Badger, “is the only -one of the province which we possess drawn up from personal observation -and ... it affords little or no certain indication of the numerous -towns and villages beyond the restricted routes of the travellers. It -is remarkable and by no means creditable to the British Government in -India, that, notwithstanding our intimate political and commercial -relations with Oman, for the last century, we know actually less of -that country beyond the coast than we do of the Lake districts of -Africa.”[31] Badger wrote in 1860, but although Colonel Miles and -others have visited the region of Jebel Achdar, all the country beyond -is still largely _terra incognita_. No one has ever made the journey -beyond the range of mountains or solved the mystery of Western Oman, -which is still a blank on the best maps; nor do we know anything of the -land 100 miles southwest of Muscat, save by Arab hearsay. - -The highlands of Oman may be divided into three districts; _Ja’alan_ -from Jebel Saffan to Jebel Fatlah on the east. _Oman_ proper on the -Jebel Achdar, and _Ez-Zahirah_ on the eastern slopes of Jebel Okdat. -The most populous and fertile district is that of Jebel Achdar which -is also the best known. The fertility of the whole region is wonderful -and in striking contrast with the barren rocks of so large a part of -the coast. With a semi-tropical climate, an elevation of 3,000 to 5,000 -feet and abundant springs the wadys and oases of Oman have awakened the -delight and amazement of every traveller who has ventured to explore -them. Water, the one priceless treasure in all Arabia, here issues -in perennial streams from many rocky clefts and is most carefully -husbanded by the ingenuity of the people, for wide irrigation, by means -of canals or watercourses called _faluj_. Wellsted thus describes -these underground aqueducts: “They are as far as I know peculiar to -this country, and are made at an expense of labor and skill more -Chinese than Arabian. The greater part of the surface of the land being -destitute of running streams on the surface, the Arabs have sought in -elevated places for springs or fountains beneath it. A channel from -this fountain-head is then, with a very slight descent, bored in the -direction in which it is to be conveyed, leaving apertures at regular -distances to afford light and air to those who are occasionally sent -to keep it clean. In this way the water is frequently conducted for -a distance of six or eight miles, and an unlimited supply is thus -obtained. These channels are about four feet broad and two feet deep -and contain a clear, rapid stream. Most of the large towns or oases -have four or five of these rivulets or _falj_ (plural _faluj_) running -into them. The isolated spots to which water is thus conveyed, possess -a soil so fertile that nearly every grain, fruit or vegetable, common -to India, Arab or Persia, is produced almost spontaneously; and the -tales of the oases will be no longer regarded as an exaggeration, since -a single step conveys the traveller from the glare and sand of the -desert into a fertile tract, watered by a hundred rills, teeming with -the most luxurious vegetation.” - -The chief caravan routes inland start from the coast, at Sohar through -Wady-el-Jazy, at Suaik through Wady Thala, at Barka or Sib through Wady -Mithaal and Wady Zailah (alternative routes) at Matra, by the same, and -at Sur through Wady Falj. On the eastern side of the mountain range the -chief towns are Rastak, Nakhl and Someil. On the farther side we have -Tenoof, Behilah and Nezwa, all large towns well-watered. “Between these -fertile oases one travels[32] sometimes an entire day through stony -wady, or over volcanic rock, climbing a difficult mountain pass, or -crossing a wide sea-like desert, without seeing a habitation or meeting -a fellow-creature except an occasional caravan. Their rifles are swung -over the shoulders of the riders, and their wild song keeps time with -the slow tread of the camels.... - -“From Nakhl it is a long day’s journey to Lihiga at the foot of Jebel -Achdar. Two other beautifully situated mountain villages, Owkan and -Koia are in close proximity. Here, as well as on the mountains, dwells -a tribe of hardy mountaineers, the Bni Ryam. In features and habits -this tribe is quite distinct from the other Oman tribes. All over these -mountains the people lead a peaceful life, and the absence of fire-arms -was noticeable in comparison with the valley tribes, where each man -carries his rifle, often of the best English or German pattern. - -“From Lihiga we began the ascent, and after a half-a-day of most -difficult climbing, reached the top of the pass at noonday, my -barometer registering 7,050 feet. Here on a level projecting rock, -which afforded a splendid extended view of the Wady Mestel, where -dwell the Bni Ruweihah, we had our lunch, and were glad to slake our -thirst out of the goatskin the guide carried on his shoulder. From -the top of the pass we descended to the level table-land at a height -of 6,200 feet, and at sunset reached the ideally beautiful village of -Sheraegah. It is in a circular ravine several hundred feet in depth, -and like a huge amphitheatre where grow in terraces, apples, peaches, -pomegranates, grapes and other temperate products in rich profusion. -Ice and snow are frequently seen here during the winter, and in summer -the temperature registers no higher than 80°F. In March we had a -temperature of 40°, and enjoyed a huge fire in the guest-room where a -hundred Arabs came to visit us, and entertained us with the recitation -of Arabic poetry. Such an opportunity was not to be neglected, and -they, as an agricultural people, were interested in the parable of the -Sower and the explanation.... - -[Illustration: TENOOF FROM THE EAST. - -From a pencil sketch by Peter J. Zwemer.] - -“We pressed on over the most difficult mountain roads to Tenoof, at -the foot of the mountains on the further side. Nizwa, the old capital -of Oman, is but three hours’ journey from Tenoof. It has a large -circular fort about 200 feet in diameter, built of rough hewn stone -and cement. We intended to return to Muscat along the valley road via -Someil, but the state of affairs at Nezwa made roads through hostile -territory unsafe, and we decided to recross the mountains, enjoying -again their cool climate and the friendliness of the people. By riding -long camel-stages and taking short rests, we were able to reach Muscat -from the top of the mountains in four days, having been absent on the -journey twenty-one days.” - - - - - X - - THE PEARL ISLANDS OF THE GULF - - “‘We are all from the highest to the lowest slaves of one - master—Pearl,’ said Mohammed bin Thanee to me one evening; nor was - the expression out of place. All thought, all conversation, all - employment, turns on that one subject, everything else is mere - by-game, and below even secondary consideration.”—_Palgrave._ - - -Half way down the Persian Gulf, off the east Arabian coast, between the -peninsula of El Katar and the Turkish province of El Hassa, are the -islands of Bahrein.[33] This name was formerly applied to the entire -triangular projection on the coast between the salt-sea of the gulf -and the fresh water flood of the Euphrates; hence its name _Bahr-ein_ -“the two seas.” But since the days of Burckhardt’s map the name is -restricted to the archipelago. The larger island is itself often called -Bahrein, while the next in size is named Moharrek—“place of burning.” -The Arabs say that this was so named because the Hindu traders used it -for cremating their dead. - -[Illustration: MAP OF THE ISLANDS OF BAHREIN.] - -The main island is about twenty-seven miles in length from north to -south, and ten miles in breadth. Toward the centre there is a slightly -elevated table-land, mostly barren. Twelve miles from the northern end -is a clump of dark volcanic hills, 400 feet high, called Jebel Dokhan, -“Mountain of Smoke.” The northern half of the island is well watered -by abundant fresh-water springs, always lukewarm in temperature. This -part of the island is covered with beautiful gardens of date-palms, -pomegranate, and other trees. The coast is everywhere low, and the -water shallow for a long distance. There is no pier or jetty anywhere, -so that, except at high water, boats anchor nearly a quarter of a mile -from the shore. - -The total population of the islands is estimated at nearly 60,000, -all of them Moslems with the exception of about 100 Banian traders -from Sindh, India. Menamah, the large town on the northeast point -of the island, with perhaps 10,000 inhabitants, is built along the -shore for about a mile; the houses are mostly poor, many being mere -mat-huts. This town is the market-place and commercial centre for the -whole group. Here is the post office and custom-house and here the -bulk of the trade is carried on for the whole island. A short distance -from Menamah is the old town of Belad le Kadim, with ruins of better -buildings and a fine mosque with two minarets. The mosque is of very -early date, for the older Cufic character is on all its inscriptions, -covered over in some places by more recent carving and inscriptions in -later Arabic. - -The largest spring on the islands is called El Adhari, “the virgins.” -It issues from a reservoir thirty yards across, and at least thirty -feet deep, flowing in a stream six or eight feet wide and two feet -deep. This is remarkable for Arabia, and gives some idea of the -abundant supply of water. Under the sea, near the island of Moharrek, -are fresh-water springs always covered with a fathom of salt water. -The natives lower a hollow, weighted bamboo through which the fresh -water gushes out a few inches above sea-level. The source of these -fresh-water springs of Bahrein must be on the mainland of Arabia, as -all the opposite coast shows a similar phenomena. Apparently the _River -Aftan_ marked on old maps of the peninsula as emptying into the Persian -Gulf near Bahrein was an _underground river_, known to the older -geographers. - -If Egypt is the gift of the Nile, Bahrein may well be called the gift -of the pearl-oyster. Nothing else gave the islands their ancient -history, and nothing so much gives them their present importance. -The pearl-fisheries are the one great industry of Bahrein. They -are carried on every year from June until October, and even for a -longer period, if hot weather sets in earlier. Nearly all the island -population are engaged in the work in some way, and during the season -there is only one topic of conversation in the coffee-shops and the -evening-mejlis,—PEARLS. The pearl has this distinction above all other -precious stones, that it requires no human hand to bring out its -beauties. By modern scientists, pearls are believed to be the result of -an abnormal secretion, caused by the irritation of the mollusk’s shell -by some foreign substance—in short, a disease of the pearl-oyster. But -it is not surprising that the Arabs have many curious superstitions as -to the cause of pearl-formation. Their poets tell of how the monsoon -rains falling on the banks of Ceylon and Bahrein find chance lodgment -in the opened mouth of the pearl-oyster. Each drop distills a gem, -and the size of the raindrop determines the luck of the future diver. -Heaven-born and cradled in the deep blue sea, it is the purest of gems -and, in their eyes, the most precious. - -[Illustration: THE VILLAGE OF MENAMAH, BAHREIN ISLANDS.] - -Not only in its creation, but in its liberation from its prison-house -under ten fathoms of water the pearl costs pain and sacrifice. So far -as this can be measured in pounds, shillings and pence, this cost is -easy of computation. The total value of pearls exported from Bahrein -in 1896 was £303,941 sterling ($1,500,000). The number of boats from -Bahrein engaged in the fisheries is about nine hundred and the cost -of bringing one boat’s share to the surface is 4,810 rupees (about -$1,600).[34] Hundreds of craft also come to the oyster-banks from other -ports on the gulf. It is scarcely necessary to say that the pearl -divers do not receive the amount fairly due them for their toil. They -are one and all victims of the “truck-system” in its worst form, being -obliged to purchase all supplies, etc., from their masters. They are -consequently so much in debt to him as often to make them practically -his slaves. The boats are generally owned by the merchants, and the -crew are paid at a low rate for a whole year’s work, only receiving -a small extra allowance when they bring up pearls of special size or -brilliancy. In the winter season these divers are out of work, and -consequently incur large debts which are charged to the next season’s -account. By force of circumstances and age-long practice the islanders -are also much given to the vice of gambling on the market. Even the -poorest fisherman will lay his wager—and lose it. It is not the thirty -thousand fishermen of the gulf with their more than five thousand boats -who grow rich in the pearl-fishing business; the real profit falls to -those who remain on shore—the Arab and Hindu brokers of Bombay who deal -direct with Berlin, London and Paris. A pearl often trebles in value by -changing hands, even before it reaches the Bombay market. - -[Illustration: A BAHREIN HARBOR BOAT] - -The divers follow the most primitive method in their work. Their boats -are such as their ancestors used before the Portuguese were expelled -from Bahrein in 1622. Even Sinbad the sailor might recognize every rope -and the odd spoon-shaped oars. These boats are of three kinds, very -similar in general appearance, but differing in size, called _Bakāre_t, -_Shua´ee_ and _Bateel_.[35] All of the boats have good lines and are -well-built by the natives from Indian timber. For the rest, all is of -Bahrein manufacture except their pulley-blocks, which come from Bombay. -Sailcloth is woven at Menamah and ropes are twisted of date-fibre in -rude rope-walks which have no machinery worth mentioning. Even the -long, soft iron nails that hold the boats together are hammered out on -the anvil one by one by Bahrein blacksmiths. - -Each boat has a sort of figure-head, called the _kubait_, generally -covered with the skin of a sheep or goat which was sacrificed when the -boat was first launched. This is one of the Semitic traits which appear -in various forms all over Arabia—blood-sacrifice—and which has Islam -never uprooted. All the fishermen prefer to go out in a boat which has -cut a covenant of blood with Neptune. The larger boats used in diving -hold from twenty to forty men, less than half of whom are divers, while -the others are rope-holders and oarsmen. One man in each boat is called -_El Mŭsŭlly_, _i.e._, the one-who-prays, because his sole daily duty -is to take charge of the rope of any one who stops to pray or eat. He -has no regular work, and when not otherwise engaged vicariously mends -ropes and sails or cooks the rice and fish over charcoal embers. He is -therefore also called _El Gillās_, “the sitter,” very suggestive of his -sinecure office. - -The divers wear no elaborate diving-suit, but descend clothed only -in their _fitaam_ and _khabaat_. The first is a true _pince-nez_ or -clothespin-like clasp for their nostrils. It is made of two thin -slices of horn fastened together with a rivet or cut out whole in a -quarter circle so as to fit the lower part of the nose and keep out -the water. It has a perforated head through which a string passes and -which suspends it from the divers neck when not in use. _Khabaat_ are -“finger-hats” made of leather and thrice the length of an ordinary -thimble. They are worn to protect the fingers in gathering the -pearl-shells from the sea-bottom; at the height of the pearl season -large baskets full of all sizes of these finger-caps are exposed for -sale in the bazaar. Each diver uses two sets (_twenty_) in a season. -A basket, called _dajeen_, and a stone-weight complete the diver’s -outfit. This stone, on which the diver stands when he plunges down -feet-first, is fastened to a rope passing between his toes and is -immediately raised; another rope is attached to the diver and his -basket by which he gives the signal and is drawn up. The best divers -remain below only two or three minutes at most, and when they come up -are nine-tenths suffocated. Many of them are brought up unconscious -and often cannot be brought to life. Deafness, and suppuration of -the ear, due to carelessness or perforated ear-drums, caused by the -enormous pressure of the water at such depths, are common among divers. -Rheumatism and neuralgia are universal and the pearl-fishers are the -great exception among the Arabs in not possessing beautiful teeth. - -Sharks are plentiful and it is not a rare thing for them to attack -divers. But the Bahrein divers are more fearful of a small species of -devil-fish which lays hold of any part of the body and draws blood -rapidly. Against this monster of the sea they guard themselves by -wearing an “overall” of white cloth during the early part of the season -when it frequents the banks. Their tales of horror regarding the -devil-fish equal those of Victor Hugo in his “Toilers of the Sea.” - -The divers remain out in their boats as long as their supply of fresh -water lasts, often three weeks or even more. Sir Edwin Arnold’s lines -are thus not as correct as they are beautiful: - - “Dear as the wet diver to the eyes - Of his pale wife who waits and weeps on shore - By sands of Bahrein in the Persian Gulf; - Plunging all day in the blue waves; at night, - Having made up his tale of precious pearls, - Rejoins her in their hut upon the shore.” - -When the pearl-oysters are brought up they are left on deck over -night and the next morning are opened by means of a curved knife, six -inches long, called _miflaket_. Before the days of English commerce -the mother-of-pearl was thrown away as worthless. Now it has a good -market-value and (after being scraped free of the small parasites that -infest the outer shell) is packed in wooden crates and exported in -large quantities. The total value of this export in 1897 was £5,694 -($28,000). The Arabs have asked me in amazement what in the world the -“Franks” do with empty sea-shells; and some tell idle tales of how -they are ground up into pearl dust and pressed into artificial gems, or -are used as a veneer to cover brick houses. - -On shore the pearls are classified by the merchants, according to -weight, size, shape, color and brilliancy. There are button-pearls, -pendants, roundish, oval, flat, and perfect pearls; pearls, white, -yellow, golden, pink, blue, azure, green, grey, dull and black; -seed-pearls the size of grains of sand and pearls as large as an Arab’s -report, emphasized with frequent _wallahs_, can make them. I have seen -a pendant pearl the size of a hazelnut worth a few thousand rupees -but there are Arabs who will swear by the prophet’s beard (each hair -of which is sacred!) that they have brought up pearls as large as a -pigeon’s egg. The pearl brokers carry their wares about tied in bags of -turkey-red calico; they weigh them in tiny brass scales and learn their -exact size by an ingenious device consisting of a nest of brass sieves, -called _taoos_, six in number, with apertures slightly differing in -size. The pearls are put into the largest sieve first; those that do -not fall through its pea-sized holes are called, _Ras_, “chief”; such -are generally pearls of great price, although their value depends most -on weight and perfection of form. The second size is called _Batu_, -“belly,” and the third _Dhail_, “tail.” Color has only a fashion-value; -Europe prefers white and the Orient the golden-yellow; black pearls are -not highly esteemed by Orientals. - -Before they are shipped the large pearls are cleaned in _reeta_ a kind -of native soap-powder, and the smaller ones in soft brown sugar; then -they are tied up in calico and sold in lots by weight, each bundle -being supposed to contain pearls of average equal value. How it is -possible to collect custom dues on _pearls_ among a people whose -consciences rival their wide breast-pockets in concealing capacity, -surpasses comprehension. But the thing is done, for the farmer of -the custom dues grows rich and the statistics of export are not pure -guess-work. - -The Bahrein islands also produce quantities of dates, and there is -an export trade in a remarkably fine breed of asses, celebrated all -over the Persian Gulf. A good Bahrein donkey is easy to ride and -almost as good a roadster as an average horse. The only manufactures, -beside sail-sheeting, are coarse cloth for turbans, and reed-mats of -very fine texture. The chief imports are rice, timber and piece-goods -for which Bahrein is the depot for all eastern Arabia. Three sights -are shown to the stranger-tourist to the islands of Bahrein: the -pearl-fisheries, the fresh-water springs, and the ancient ruins of an -early civilization at the village of Ali. These ruins are the “_bayoot -el owalin_” the dwellings of the first inhabitants, who are believed -to have been destroyed by Allah because of their wickedness. An hour’s -ride through the date gardens and past the minarets brings us to the -village of Ali. It can generally be seen from a good distance because -of the smoke which rises from the huge ovens where pottery is baked. -The potter turns his wheel to-day and fashions the native water-jars -with deft hand utterly ignorant and careless of the curious sepulchral -tumuli which cast their shade at his feet. South and west of the -village the whole plain is studded with mounds, at least three hundred -of them, the largest being about forty feet in height. Only two or -three have ever been opened or explored. Theodore Bent in company with -his wife explored these in 1889, with meagre results, but no further -investigations have been made though it is a field that may yet yield -large results. M. Jules Oppert, the French Assyriologist, and others -regard the island as an extremely old centre of civilization and it -is now well known that the first settlements from ancient Babylonia -were in the Persian Gulf which then extended as far north as Mugheir, -near Suk-es Shiukh. But those first settlers probably went to the -coasts of Africa and to the kingdoms of Southern Arabia, in which -case Bahrein was on their line of travel. It must always have been a -depot for shipping because of its abundant water-supply in a region -where fresh-water is generally scarce. The mounds at Ali probably date -from this very early period; although no corroboration in the shape -of cylinders or bricks bearing inscriptions has yet been found, the -character of the structures found in the mounds is undoubted proof of -their great antiquity. - -The larger mound opened by Bent, now consists of two rock-built -chambers of very large stones, square masonry, and no trace of an arch -or a pillar. The lower chamber is twenty-eight feet in length, five -feet in width, and eight feet high; it has four niches or recesses -about three feet deep, two at the end of the passage and two near its -entrance. The upper chamber is of the same length as the lower, but its -width is six inches less, and its height only four feet eight inches. -The lower passage is hand plastered as an impression of the mason’s -hand on the side wall still proves. If diggings were made _below_ the -mounds or other mounds were opened better results might follow, and -perhaps inscriptions or cylinders would be discovered. A year or two -ago a jar containing a large number of gold coins was found near Ali -by some native workmen; these however were Cufic and of a much later -period than the mounds. Near Yau and Zillag, on the other side of the -island there are also ruins and very deep wells cut through solid rock -with _deep_ rope-marks on the curbing; perhaps these also are of early -date. On the island of Moharrek there is a place called _Ed Dair_, “the -monastery” with ruins of what the Arabs call a church; whether this -is of Portuguese date like the castle or goes back to a much earlier -period before Mohammed, we cannot tell. - -The climate of Bahrein is not as bad as it is often described by -casual visitors. No part of the Persian Gulf can be called a health -resort, but neither is the climate unhealthful at all seasons of the -year. In March and April, October, November and December the weather -is delightful, indoor temperatures seldom rising above 85° F., or -falling below 60° F. When north winds blow in January and February it -is often cold enough for a fire; these are the rainy months of the year -and least healthful, especially to the natives in their badly-built -mat-huts. From May to September inclusive is the hot season, although -the nights remain cool and the heat is tempered by sea-breezes (called, -_El Barih_), until the middle of June. Heavy dews at night are -common and make the atmosphere murky and oppressive when there is no -sea-breeze. Land-breezes from the west and south continue irregularly -throughout the entire summer. When they fail the thermometer leaps to -over one hundred and remains there day and night until the ripples -on the stagnant, placid sea proclaim a respite from the torture of -sweltering heat. A record of temperature, kept at Menamah village in -the summer of 1893, shows a minimum indoor temperature of 85° and a -maximum of 107°F., in the shade. The prevailing wind at Bahrein, and -in fact all over the Gulf, is the _shemmāl_ or Northwester changing -its direction slightly with the trend of the coast. The air during a -shemmāl is generally very dry and the sky cloudless, but in winter they -are sometimes at first accompanied by rain-squalls. In winter they are -very severe and endanger the shipping. The only other strong wind is -called _kaus_; it is a southeaster and blows irregularly from December -to April. It is generally accompanied by thick, gloomy weather, with -severe squalls and falling barometer. The saying among sailors that -“there is always too much wind in the Gulf or none at all,” is very -true of Bahrein. - -This saying holds true also of the political history of the Gulf. -Bahrein, because of its pearl-trade has ever been worth contending -for and it has been a bone of contention among the neighboring rulers -ever since the naval battle fought by the early inhabitants against -the Romans. After Mohammed’s day the Carmathians overran the islands. -Portuguese, Arabs from Oman, Persians, Turks and lastly the English -have each in turn claimed rule or protection over the archipelago. It -is sufficient to note here that in 1867, ’Isa bin Ali (called _Esau_ in -Curzon’s “Persia,” as if the name came from Jacob’s brother instead of -the Arab form of Jesus!) was appointed ruling Sheikh by the British -who deposed his father Mohammed bin Khalifa for plotting piracy. - -The present Sheikh is a typical Arab and spends most of his time in -hawking and the chase; the religious rule, which in a Moslem land -means the judicial and executive department, rests with the _Kadi_ or -Judge. There is no legislature as the law was laid down once for all -in the Koran and the traditions. The administration of _justice_ is -rare. Oppression, blackmail and bribery are universal; and, except in -commerce and the slave-trade, English protection has brought about no -reforms on the island. To be “protected” means here strict neutrality -as to the internal affairs and absolute dictation as to affairs with -other governments. To “protect” means to keep matters in _status quo_ -until the hour is ripe for annexation. Sometimes the process from the -one to the other is so gradual as to resemble growth; in such a case it -would be correct to speak of the growth of the British Empire. - -Contact with Europeans and western civilization has, however, done much -for Bahrein in the matter of disarming prejudice and awakening the -sluggish mind of the Arab to look beyond his own “Island of the Arabs.” -Even as early as 1867, Palgrave could write: “From the maritime and -in a manner central position of Bahreyn my readers may of themselves -conjecture that the profound ignorance of Nejd regarding Europeans -and their various classifications is here exchanged for a partial -acquaintance with those topics; thus, English and French, disfigured -into the local _Ingleez_ and _Francees_ are familiar words at Menamah, -though Germans and Italians, whose vessels seldom or never visit these -seas, have as yet no place in the Bahreyn vocabulary; while Dutch and -Portuguese seem to have fallen into total oblivion. But Russians or -_Moskop_, that is Muscovites, are alike known and feared, thanks to -Persian intercourse and the instinct of nations. Beside the policy of -Constantinople and Teheran are freely and at times sensibly discussed -in these coffee-houses no less than the stormy diplomacy of Nejd and -her dangerous encroachments.” - -To the Bahrein Arabs Bombay is the centre of the world of civilization, -and he who has seen that city is distinguished as knowing all about -the ways of foreigners. So anxious are the boys for a trip on the -British India steamer to this Eldorado of science and mystery that they -sometimes run from home and go as stowaways or beg their passage. This -close contact with India has had its effect on the Arabic spoken on -the island which, although not a dialect, is full of Hindustani words. -Of late years there has been a considerable Persian immigration into -Bahrein from the coast between Lingah and Bushire, and next to Arabic, -Persian is the language most in use. - - - - - XI - - THE EASTERN THRESHOLD OF ARABIA - - -Beyond Bahrein the mainland stretches westward for eight hundred miles -across the province of Hassa and lower Nejd and Hejaz to the Red Sea. -As Jiddah is the western port, Bahrein is the eastern port for all -Arabia. It is the gateway to the interior, the threshold of which is -Hassa. Draw a line from Menamah to Katif, then on to Hofhoof (or El -Hassa) and thence back to Menamah, and the triangle formed will include -every important town or village of Eastern Arabia. North of that -triangle on the coast is the inhospitable barren, thinly populated, -country of the Bni Hajar; south of it is the peninsula of El Katar; -westward stretches the sandy desert for five days’ marches to Riad and -the old Wahabi country. The region thus bounded is really the whole of -Hassa, although on maps that name is given to the whole coast as far -as Busrah. But neither the authority of the Turkish government nor the -significance of the word _Hassa_ (low, moist ground) can be said to -extend outside of the triangle. - -The peninsula of El Katar, about 100 miles long and fifty broad, is -unattractive in every way and barren enough to be called a desert. -Palgrave’s pen-picture cannot be improved upon: “To have an idea of -Katar my readers must figure to themselves miles on miles of low barren -hills, bleak and sun-scorched, with hardly a single tree to vary the -dry monotonous outline; below these a muddy beach extends for a quarter -of a mile seaward in slimy quicksands, bordered by a rim of sludge and -seaweed. If we look landwards beyond the hills we see what by extreme -courtesy may be called pasture land, dreary downs with twenty pebbles -for every blade of grass; and over this melancholy ground scene, -but few and far between, little clusters of wretched, most wretched -earth cottages and palm-leaf huts, narrow, ugly and low; these are the -villages, or ‘towns’ (for so the inhabitants style them) of Katar. Yet -poor and naked as is the land it has evidently something still poorer -and nakeder behind it, something in short even more devoid of resources -than the coast itself, and the inhabitants of which seek here by -violence what they cannot find at home. For the villages of Katar are -each and all carefully walled in, while the downs beyond are lined with -towers and here and there a castle, huge and square with its little -windows and narrow portals.” - -[Illustration: NEIBUHR’S MAP OF THE PERSIAN GULF.] - -The population of Katar is not large; its principal town is Bedaa’. -All the inhabitants live from the sea by pearl-diving and fishing, and -in the season send out two hundred boats. The whole peninsula with -its wild Bedouin population is claimed by Turkey and is the dread of -the miserable soldiers who are sent there to preserve peace and draw -precarious pay while they shake with malaria and grow homesick for -Bagdad. The Arabs are always at feud with the government and it is very -unsafe outside the walls after sunset. - -The usual route from Bahrein to the interior of Hassa is to cross over -by boat to Ojeir on the mainland, and thence to travel by caravan -to Hofhoof. In October, 1893, I took this route, returning from the -capital to Katif and thence back to Menamah. Embarking at sunset we -landed at Ojeir before dawn the next day and I found my way to a -Turkish custom-house officer to whom I had a friendly letter from a -Bahrein merchant. Ojeir, although it has neither a bazaar nor any -settled population, has a mud-fort, a dwarf flagstaff and an imposing -custom-house. The harbor although not deep is protected against -north and south winds and is therefore a good landing-place for the -immense quantity of rice and piece-goods shipped from Bahrein into -the interior. A caravan of from two to three hundred camels leaves -Ojeir every week. For although the Jebel Shammar country is probably -supplied overland from Busrah and Bagdad, the whole of Southern Nejd -receives piece-goods, coffee, rice, sugar and Birmingham wares by way -of Bahrein and Ojeir. - -The whole plain in and about the custom-house was piled with bales -and boxes and the air filled with the noise of loading seven hundred -camels. I struck a bargain with Salih, a Nejdi, to travel in his party -and before noon-prayers we were off. The country for many hours was -bare desert, here and there a picturesque ridge of sand, and in one -place a vein of greenish limestone. When night came we all stretched -a blanket on the clean sand and slept in the open air; those who -had neglected their water-skins on starting now satisfied thirst by -scooping a well with their hands three or four feet deep and found a -supply of water. During the day the sun was hot and the breeze died -away; but at night, under the sparkling stars and with a north wind -it seemed, by contrast, bitterly cold. On the second day at noon we -sighted the palm-forests that surround Hofhoof and give it, Palgrave -says, “the general aspect of a white and yellow onyx chased in an -emerald rim” As we did not reach the “emerald rim” until afternoon I -concluded to remain at Jifr, one of the many suburb villages. Here -Salih had friends, and a delicious dinner of bread, butter, milk and -dates, all fresh, was one of many tokens of hospitality. At sunset we -went on to the next village, Menazeleh, a distance of about three miles -through gardens and rushing streams of tepid water. The next morning -early we again rode through gardens and date-orchards half visible in -the morning mist. At seven o’clock the mosques and walls of Hofhoof -appeared right before us as the sun lifted the veil; it was a beautiful -sight. - -El Hofhoof can claim a considerable age. Under the name of Hajar, it -was next to Mobarrez, the citadel town of the celebrated Bni Kindi -and Abd El Kais (570 A.D.) Both of these towns, and in fact every -village of Hassa, owe their existence to the underground watercourses, -which are the chief characteristic of the province; everywhere there -is the same abundance of this great blessing. A land of streams and -fountains,—welling up in the midst of the salt sea, as at Bahrein; -flowing unknown and unsought under the dry desert at Ojeir; bubbling -up in perennial fountains as at Katif; or bursting out in seven hot -springs that flow, cooling, to bless wide fields of rice and wheat at -Mobarrez. The entire region is capable of rich cultivation, and yet now -more than half of it is desert. There is not a man to till the ground, -and paradise lies waste except near the villages. Elsewhere Bedouin -robbers and Turkish taxes prevent cultivation. _These two are the curse -of agriculture all over the Ottoman provinces of Arabia._ - -[Illustration: PALGRAVE’S PLAN OF HOFHOOF.] - -Hofhoof itself is surrounded by gardens, and its plan gives a good idea -of the general character of the towns of Arabia. A castle or ruler’s -house; a bazaar with surrounding dwellings and a mud-wall built around -to protect the whole. The moat is now dry and half filled in with the -débris of the walls, which are not in good repair. The town is nearly a -mile and a-half across at its greater diameter, but the houses are not -built as close together as is the custom in most Oriental towns; here -is the pleasant feature of gardens _inside_ the walls. The date-palm -predominates, and indeed comes to wonderful perfection, but the nabak, -the papay, the fig and the pomegranate are also in evidence. Indigo is -cultivated, and also cotton, while all the region round about is green -with fields of rice and sugar-cane and vegetables,—onions, radishes, -beans, vetches, and maize. - -The population of the city is entirely Moslem, except one Roman -Catholic Christian, who is the Turkish doctor, and a half dozen Jews. -The three Europeans who have previously visited and described Hofhoof -are, Captain Sadlier (1819), Palgrave (1863), and Colonel Pelly (1865). -The first gives the population at 15,000 and Palgrave speaks of 20,000 -to 30,000. In 1871 when the Turkish expedition against Nejd took the -city, they reported it to have 15,000 houses and 200 suburb villages(!) -This shows the absolute uncertainty of most statistics in regard to -Arabia. - -El Hassa (Hofhoof) is the first stage on the direct caravan route from -east Arabia to Mecca and Jiddah. Abd Er Rahman bin Salama, the Arab -Sheikh, under the Turkish governor of the Rifa’a quarter of the town -gave me the following information regarding this route. From Hassa to -Riad is six days by camel, from Riad to Jebel Shammar nine days; to -Wady Dauasir seven; and from Riad to Mecca eighteen days. That would be -_twenty-eight days_ to cross the peninsula, not including stops on the -road and travelling at the rate of an ordinary caravan, _i. e._, three -miles an hour - -The Kaisariyeh or bazaar of Hofhoof is well supplied with all the -usual requirements and luxuries of the Levant; weapons, cloth, gold -embroidery, dates, vegetables, dried fish, wood, salted locusts, fruit, -sandals, tobacco, copper-ware and piece-goods—in irregular confusion as -enumerated. Public auctions are held frequently in the square or on -the plain outside the walls. Here, too, the barbers ply their trade, -and blacksmiths beat at their anvils under the shade of a date-hut. -The Rifa’a quarter has the _best_ houses, while the Na’athal has the -largest number; the “East-end” in Hofhoof being for the rich and the -“West-end” for the poor, as is proper in a land of paradoxes. - -Hassa is celebrated for two sorts of manufacture; cloaks or _abbas_, -with rich embroidery in gold and colored thread, delicately wrought and -of elegant pattern, the gayest and costliest garments of Arabia; and -brass coffee-pots of curious shape and pretty form, which, with the -cloaks, are exported all over Eastern Arabia, even as far as Busrah -and Muscat. Once trade flourished and the merchants grew rich in this -land of easy agriculture and fertile soil. But intestine wars, Wahabi -fanaticism and Turkish indolence, extortion and taxation have taken -away prosperity, and Hassa’s capital is not what it was in the days of -old, when the Carmathians held the town. - -One remnant of its former glory remains; a unique and entirely local -coinage called the _Toweelah_ or “long-bit.” It consists of a small -copper-bar, mixed with a small proportion of silver, about an inch in -length, split at one end and with a fissure slightly opened. Along -one or both of its flattened sides run a few Cufic characters, nearly -illegible in most specimens, but said to read: _Mohammed-al-Saood_, -_i.e._, “Mohammed of the Saood family.” The coin has neither date nor -motto, but was undoubtedly made by one of the Carmathian Princes about -the year 920 A. D. This Moslem sect owed its origin to a fanatic and -enthusiast born at Cufa, called Carmath, who first had a following -about the year 277 of the Hejira. He assumed the lofty titles, Guide, -Director, the Word, the Holy Ghost, the Herald of the Messiah, etc. His -interpretation of the Koran was very lax in the matters of ablution, -fasting, and pilgrimage, but he increased the number of prayers to -fifty daily. He had twelve apostles among the Bedouins, and his sect -grew so rapidly that they could muster in the field 107,000 fanatical -warriors. Cufa and Busrah were pillaged and Bagdad taken. In 929 Abu -Taher stormed the Holy City of Mecca and the Carmathians took away the -black stone in triumph to Katif. The centre of their power remained -at Hassa for some years. Here the coin was struck, which is the only -remnant of their power and fanaticism. And while the Carmathian -doctrines are held in abhorrence, their little bars of copper still -buy rice and dates and stick to the hands of the money-changer in the -bazaar. - -In former days there were gold and silver coins of similar shape. Some -in silver can yet be found occasionally inscribed with the noble motto -in Arabic: “_Honor to the sober man, dishonor to the ambitious._” When -I was in Hofhoof that strange, two-tailed copper-bar was worth half an -anna and disputed its birthright in the market with rupees and Indian -paper and Maria Theresa dollars and Turkish coppers. But how changed -the bazaar itself would appear to the ghost of some Carmathian warrior -of the ninth century who first handled a “long-bit.” Even the Wahabis -have disappeared and tobacco, silk, music and wine are no longer -deadly sins. Of these Moslem Puritans many have left for Riad, and the -few that remain stroke their long white beards in horror at Turkish -Effendis in infidel breeches smoking cigarettes, while they sigh for -the golden days of the Arabian Reformer. - -There is a military hospital at Hofhoof with a surgeon and doctor, -but at the time of my visit there was a dearth of medicines and -an abominable lack of sanitation. Few soldiers submit to hospital -treatment, preferring to desert or seek furlough elsewhere, and nothing -is done for the Arab population. Before my coming cholera raged here as -well as on the coast, and during my short visit smallpox was epidemic -and carried off many, many children. Thrice awful are such diseases in -a land where a practical fanaticism, under the pious cloak of religion, -scorns medicine or preventive measures. - -The government of the province of Hassa is as follows. The _Sandjak_ -(Turkish for administrative division) is divided into three _cazas_, -Nejd, Katar and Katif and a small garrison holds each of these -cazas; 600 men at Hofhoof, and 300 at Katar and Katif. The governor, -called Mutaserrif Pasha, resides at the capital and _kaimakams_ or -sub-governors at the other two centres. There are the usual Turkish -tribunals and each Arab tribe has a representative or go-between to -arrange its affairs with the governor. The principal tribes which at -present acknowledge Turkish occupation and submit to their rule are: -El Ajeman, El Morah, Bni Hajar, Bni Khaled, Bni Hassam, El Motter, El -Harb, and El Ja’afer. The Turkish government has opened three schools -in the province; the total number of pupils according to the Turkish -official report is 3,540. The same report puts the entire population -of the province at 250,000; this gives a fair idea of the backwardness -of education even in this province which has always been remarkable -for book-learning. The large mosque with its twenty-four arches and -porticoes, smooth-plastered and with a mat-spread floor is always -full of mischievous youth learning the mysteries of grammar and the -commonplaces of Moslem theology; but the days of poetry and writing of -commentaries on the Koran are in the past; even the Wahabi merchants -talk of Bombay and are glad to get hold of an English primer or an -atlas of the new world which is knocking at their door for admittance. - -After four days spent in the city I accepted an opportunity to return -northward with a caravan; I was not allowed to go, however, until -after I had signed a paper, which, because of the unsafety of the road -disclaimed all responsibility on the part of the Government should I -come to lose life, limb or luggage. A copy of this document is in my -possession, but the only foe I met in the desert was—fever. On Tuesday -noon our small party set out, not going through the large town of -Mobarrez as I had hoped, but turning east and reaching Kilabeejeh at -two o’clock. We passed fountains and streams and fields of rice and -swamps,—everything very unlike Arabia of the school-geography. In four -hours, however, we were again in the midst of desert where the sun -proved too hot for me and I was taken with a fever which did not leave -me until I returned to Bahrein. The road continued desert all the way -to Katif. On Wednesday we rode all night under the stars (because of -a false alarm of robbers) until nine o’clock next morning. Then we -rested at a place called, with bitter irony, Um El Hammam; there are -no _baths_, no trees, no grass, only a shallow pit of dirty water and -small shrubbery of dates. Here we spent a hot day. On Friday morning -we came to the borders of Katif,—palm-groves, wells, and ancient -aqueducts with curious towers and air-holes at intervals. Through -gardens and around by the large square fort we came to the sea. At the -custom-house, again, I found rest and refreshment. - -Katif has no good name among Hassa Arabs; its location is low -and marshy; “its inhabitants are mostly weak in frame, sallow in -complexion, and suffer continually from malaria. The town itself is -badly built, woefully filthy, damp and ill-favored in climate. Yet -it has a good population and brisk trade. The inhabitants are mostly -Shiahs of Persian origin and are held in abhorrence by the Wahabis and -the Turks alike as little better than infidels. The present location -of Katif corresponds to the very ancient settlement of the _Gerrha_ of -the Greek geographers but no exploration for ruins has ever been made. -A Portuguese castle marks _their_ occupation of this coast also during -their supremacy in the gulf. Katif was taken by the Turks in 1871 and -has been occupied by them ever since. - -The Arabian coast north of Katif, all the way to Kuweit is without -a single large settlement. Mostly barren and in the hands of the -predatory and warlike tribe of Bni Hajar, it is very uninteresting and -entirely unproductive. - - - - - XII - - THE RIVER-COUNTRY AND THE DATE-PALM - - “The rich plains of Mesopotamia and Assyria which were once cultivated - by a populous nation and watered by surprising efforts of human - industry, are now inhabited, or rather ravaged by wandering Arabs. So - long as these fertile provinces shall remain under the government, or - rather anarchy of the Turks they must continue deserts in which nature - dies for want of the fostering care of man”—_Niebuhr_ (1792). - - -What changes of history have left their records in ruins and names and -legends on the great alluvial plains of Northeastern Arabia! The two -rivers still bear their Bible names, the Euphrates and _Dijleh_, or -Hiddekel, but nothing else is left which could be called paradise. What -impresses the traveller first and most is that so large an extent of -this fertile region lies waste and unproductive under an effete rule. -The splendor of the past can scarcely be believed because of the ruin -of the present. Everywhere are traces of ancient empires and yet it -seems incredible as we watch the half-naked Arabs ploughing through the -mud-banks with their wild cattle and primitive implements. - -Was this the cradle of the human race? Babylon and Nineveh are here -for the archaeologist; Ctesiphon, Kufa and Zobeir for the historian; -Bagdad and Busrah (or Bassorah) for old Arabian romance; and Ur of -the Chaldees for the Bible student. Since Haroun Rashid went about in -disguise how many yet stranger Arabian nights has Bagdad seen! How -surprised Sinbad the sailor would be to see the decay of Busrah, yet -with a dozen “smoke-ships” in its harbor! - -Mesopotamia, called by the Arabs _El Jezira_, was formerly limited to -the land lying between the two rivers and south of the old wall by -which they were connected above Bagdad. From this point to the Persian -Gulf the district was and is still known as Irak-Arabi, to distinguish -it from the Irak of Persia. Commonly, however, the name of Mesopotamia -(Mid-River-Country) is given to the whole northeastern part of Arabia. -It has a total area of 180,000 square miles and presents great -uniformity in its physical as well as its ethnical characteristics. -Arabs live and Arabic is spoken for three hundred miles beyond Bagdad -as far as Diarbekr and Mardin; but we limit our description to the -region between Busrah and Bagdad including the delta at the mouth of -the rivers. - -Near Bagdad the two giant rivers, after draining Eastern Asia Minor, -Armenia and Kurdistan, approach quite near together; from thence -the main streams are connected by several channels and intermittent -watercourses, the chief of which is the Shatt-el Hai. At Kurna the two -rivers unite to form the Shatt-el-Arab which traverses a flat, fertile -plain dotted with villages and covered with artificially irrigated -meadow-lands and extensive date groves. As far up as Bagdad the river -is navigable throughout the year for steamers of considerable size. -It is entirely owing to the enterprise of English commerce and the -Bagdad-Busrah steamship line that the country, so gloomily described by -Niebuhr, in 1792, and even by Chesney in 1840, has been developed into -new life and prosperity. Even Turkish misrule and oppression cannot do -away utterly with natural fertility and productiveness; and if ever a -good government should hold this region it would regain its ancient -importance and double its present population. - -Two features are prominent in the physical geography of this region. -First the flat almost level stretches of meadow without any rise or -fall except the artificial ancient mounds[36]. The second is the -date-palm. The whole length of the country from Fao and Mohammerah -to the country of the Montefik Arabs above Kurna is one large date -plantation, on both sides of the wide river. Everywhere the tall -shapely trees line the horizon and near the lower estuary of the -Shatt-el-Arab they are especially luxuriant and plentiful. Formerly -every palm-tree on the Nile, was registered and taxed; but to count -every such tree on the Shatt-el-Arab would be an unending task. - -The proper coat-of-arms for all lower Mesopotamia would be a date-palm. -It is the “banner of the climate” and the wealth of the country. There -may be monotony in these long groves and rows of well-proportioned -columns with their tops hidden in foliage, but there certainly is -nothing wearisome. A date garden is a scene of exceeding beauty, -varying greatly according to the time of the day and the state of -the weather. At sunrise or sunset the gorgeous colors fall on the -gracefully pendant fronds or steal gently through the lighter foliage -and reflect a vivid green so beautiful that once seen, it can never -be forgotten. At high-noon the dark shadows and deep colors of the -date-forests refresh and rest the eye aching from the brazen glare of -sand and sky. But the forest is at its best, when on a dewy night the -full moon rises and makes a pearl glisten on every spiked leaf and the -shadows show black as night in contrast with the sheen of the upper -foliage. - -It was an Arab poet who first sang the song of the date-palm so -beautifully interpreted by Bayard Taylor: - - “Next to thee, O fair Gazelle! - O Bedowee girl, beloved so well,— - Next to the fearless Nejidee - Whose fleetness shall bear me again to thee— - Next to ye both I love the palm - With his leaves of beauty and fruit of balm. - Next to ye both, I love the tree - Whose fluttering shadows wrap us three - In love and silence and mystery. - - Our tribe is many, our poets vie - With any under the Arab sky - Yet none can sing of the palm but I. - The noble minarets that begem - Cairo’s citadel diadem - Are not so light as his slender stem. - He lifts his leaves in the sunbeam glance - As the Almehs lift their arms in dance; - A slumberous motion, a passionate sigh - That works in the cells of the blood like wine. - O tree of love, by that love of thine - Teach me how I shall soften mine.” - -Mark Twain compared the palm-tree to “a liberty-pole with a haycock” -on top of it. The truth lies between the poet and the “Innocent” -traveller, for the date-tree is both a poem and a commercial product; -to the Arab mind it is the perfection of beauty and utility. - -The date palm-tree is found in Syria, Asia Minor, nearly all parts of -Arabia and the southern islands of the Mediterranean, but it attains to -its greatest perfection in upper Egypt and Mesopotamia.[37] Some idea -of the immense importance of this one crop in the wealth of Mesopotamia -may be gained from the statement of an old English merchant at Busrah, -that “the entire annual date-harvest of the River-country might -conservatively be put at 150,000 tons.” - -The date-tree consists of a single stem or trunk about fifty to eighty -feet high, without a branch, and crowned at the summit by a cluster of -leaves or “palms” that drop somewhat in the shape of a huge umbrella. -Each of these palms has long lanceolate leaves spreading out like a -fan from the centre stem which often attains a length of ten or even -twelve feet. In a wild state the successive rows of palms, which mark -the annual growth of the tree, wither and contract but remain upon the -trunk, producing with every breath of wind the creaking sound so -often heard in the silence of the desert-night. But where the palms are -cultivated the old stems are cut away as fast as they dry and are put -to many different uses. The trunk of the palm-tree therefore presents -the appearance of scales which enable a man, whose body is held to the -tree by a rope noose, to climb to the top with ease and gather the -fruit. At a distance, these annual _rings_ of the date-palm appear as a -series of diagonal lines dividing the trunk. Palm-trees often reach the -age of a hundred years. The date-palm is diœcious; but in Mesopotamia -the pistilate-palms far exceed in number the staminate. Marriage of the -palms takes place every spring and is a busy time for the husbandman as -it is no small task to climb all the trees and sprinkle the pollen. - -[Illustration: A DATE ORCHARD NEAR BUSRAH.] - -[Illustration: DATES GROWING ON A DATE-PALM.] - -Arabs have written books and Europeans have composed fables on the -thousand different uses of the palm-tree. Every part of this wonderful -tree is useful to the Arabs in unexpected ways. To begin at the -top:—The pistils of the date-blossom contain a fine curly fibre which -is beaten out and used in all Eastern baths as a sponge for soaping -the body. At the extremity of the trunk is a terminal bud containing a -whitish substance resembling an almond in consistency and taste, but -a hundred times as large. This is a great table delicacy. There are -said to be over one hundred varieties of date-palm all distinguished -by their fruit and the Arabs say that “a good housewife may furnish -her husband every day for a month with a dish of dates differently -prepared.” Dates form the staple food of the Arabs in a large part of -Arabia and are always served in some form at every meal. Syrup and -vinegar is made from old dates, and by those who disregard the Koran, -even a kind of brandy. The date-pit is ground up and fed to cows and -sheep so that nothing of the precious fruit may be lost. Whole pits are -used as beads and counters for the Arab children in their games on the -desert-sand. The branches or palms are stripped of their leaves and -used like rattan, to make beds, tables, chairs, cradles, bird-cages, -reading-stands, boats, crates, etc., etc. The leaves are made into -baskets, fans and string and the _bast_ of the outer trunk forms -excellent fibre for rope of many sizes and qualities. The wood of the -trunk, though light and porous, is much used in bridge-building and -architecture and is quite durable. In short, when a date-palm is cut -down there is not a particle of it that is wasted. This tree is the -“poor-house” and asylum for all Arabia; without it millions would have -neither food nor shelter. For one half of the population of Mesopotamia -lives in date-mat dwellings. - -Although everywhere the date-culture is an important industry, Busrah -is the centre of the trade, for here is the principal depot for -export. The three best varieties of dates known at Busrah are the -_Hallawi_, _Khadrawi_ and _Sayer_. These are the only kinds that will -stand shipping to the European markets. They are packed in layers -in wooden boxes, or in smaller carton boxes. The average export to -London and New York from Busrah for the past five years has been -about _20,000 tons_, nearly one half of which was for the American -market. Other important varieties are _Zehdi_, _Bérem_, _Dery_ and -_Shukri_. These are packed more roughly in matting or baskets, and are -sent along the whole Arabian coast, to India, the Red Sea littoral -and Zanzibar. There are over thirty other varieties cultivated near -Busrah for local consumption. Some of them have curious names such as: -“Mother of Perfume,” “Sealed-up,” “Red Sugar,” “Daughter of Seven,” -“Bride’s-finger,” “Little Star,” “Pure Daughter”; others have names -which it is better not to translate. - -Palgrave and others, with whose verdict I agree, pronounced the -_Khalasi_ date of El Hassa superior to all other kinds. It has recently -been introduced into Mesopotamia. Palgrave says, “the literal and not -inappropriate translation of the name is ‘quintessence’—a species -peculiar to Hassa and easily the first of its kind.” The fruit itself -is rather smaller than the usual _Hallawi_ date, but it is not so dry -and far more luscious. It is of a rich dark amber color, almost ruddy, -and translucent; the kernel is small and easily detached, the date -tastes sweet as sugar and is as far superior to the date bought in the -American market as a ripe Pippin is to dried apple-rings. - -At Busrah the date season opens in September and keeps every one busy -until the vast harvest is gathered and shipped. The dates for export to -Europe and America are of prime quality, a box of half a hundred-weight -on board the steamer is worth about three or four shillings wholesale. -All poor, wet, and small dates are packed separately in mats or -bags, and are sent to India as second-quality. The poorest lot are -sent in mass to the distilleries in England. Thus nothing is lost. -Date-packers, who put the fruit in layers, receive three or four -_kameris_ for packing a box. The best packers can only pack four boxes -a day, so that their wages are about a _kran_ (about ten cents) per -day. They live cheaply on the fruit, and bring all their family, babes -and greybeards with them to lodge for the season in the date-gardens. -The date season in Busrah begins in the early or middle part of -September and lasts for six or eight weeks. The price of the date-crop -varies. It is usually fixed at a meeting held in some date-garden where -the growers and buyers play the bull and the bear until an agreement -is reached. The prices in 1897 were, in the language of the trade: -“340 Shamis for Hallawis, 280 Shamis for Khadrawis, and 180 Shamis for -Sayer.” Seventeen _Shamis_ are equal to about one pound sterling, and -the prices quoted are for a _kara_, about fifty hundred-weights. - -The culture of the date has steadily increased for the past fifteen -years. In 1896 the greater part of the country was inundated by heavy -floods and over a million date-trees are said to have been destroyed; -new gardens are being planted continually. The Arabs of Mesopotamia -display great skill and unusual care in manuring, irrigating and -improving their date-plantations, for they realize more and more that -this is no mean source of wealth. One recent use to which export dates -are put is in the manufacture of vinegar, it would seem, since the -beet-sugar industry has proved so profitable, that there must be some -method by which good sugar could be manufactured from date-syrup. - -Mesopotamia is rich not only in date-groves but in cereals, wool, gums, -licorice root and other products. The export of wool alone in 1897 was -valued at £288,700. And the total exports the same year, for the two -provinces of Bagdad and Busrah, were put at £522,960. Busrah is the -shipping place for all the region round about, and ocean steamers of -considerable size are always in Busrah harbor, during 1897 four hundred -and twenty-one sailing vessels and ninety-five steamships cleared the -port, with a total tonnage of 131,846; ninety-one of the steamships -were British. - -The population of the two vilayets is given by Cuinet, who follows -Turkish authorities, as follows: - - _Moslems._ _Christians._ _Jews._ _Total._ - Bagdad Vilayet, 789,500 7,000 53,500 850,000 - Busrah Vilayet, 939,650 5,850 4,500 950,000 - -In Bagdad vilayet nearly four-fifths of the Moslem population belongs -to the Sunnite sect, while in Busrah vilayet three-fourths of them -are Shiahs. The Sabeans are generally reckoned among the Christians, -although these are already sufficiently divided into Latin, Greek -Orthodox, Greek, Syrian, Chaldean Catholic, Armenian Gregorian, -Armenian Catholic and Protestants—the last in the smallest minority -possible and the others chiefly distinguished by mutual distrust and -united hatred of Protestantism. - -The vilayet of Bagdad is divided again into three _Sandjaks_ or -districts of Bagdad, Hillah and Kerbela, and that of Busrah likewise -into those of Busrah, Amara Muntefik and Nejd[38]. Of these six -districts that of Bagdad is the largest in area and importance and is -the centre of military power for both vilayets. The boundaries of -Bagdad Sandjak go as far as Anah on the Euphrates toward the north and -include Kut-el-Amara on the south with both banks of the Tigris. Hillah -and Kerbela are along the Euphrates with irregular boundaries while the -Muntefik Sandjak with its provincial town of Nasariya separates them -from that of Busrah. The Sandjak of Amara begins a few miles north of -the junction of the two rivers, and the whole frontier toward Persia -is entirely undefined or at least “_in litigation_,” as the Turkish -official maps have it. - -The two Turkish provinces have all the involved machinery of Turkish -civil and military administration. There are plenty of offices and -office-holders and constant changes in both. Each province has a -governor-general or _Wali_ and (outside of the governor’s sandjak) -each district has its _mutaserrif-pasha_ either of the first or second -class—those one has to deal with generally prove to be of the latter. -Then there are _Kaimakams_ for smaller districts or cities, and -finally _mudirs_ for villages. At the seat of government, called the -_Serai_, there is an administrative council, including the _Näib_ or -_kadi_, corresponding to chief-justice; the _defterdar_ or secretary of -finance; the _mufti_ or public interpreter of Moslem law; the _nakib_, -etc., etc., etc. There are several courts of justice of different -rank; the custom-house administration is on the _e pluribus unum_ plan -and _ne plus ultra_ system. Besides these there are the “Regie des -tabacs” or the tobacco-monopoly, the post and telegraph administration, -the sanitary offices, the salt-inspectors, and, at Kerbela, the -Tarif of corpses levied on imported pilgrims. To describe all these -satisfactorily would require a volume. - - - - - XIII - - THE CITIES AND VILLAGES OF TURKISH-ARABIA - - -Kuweit,[39] on the gulf a little south of the river delta, will in all -probability—before long, rise in importance and be as well known as -Suez or Port Said. It has the finest harbor in all Eastern Arabia, and -is an important town of from 10,000 to 12,000 inhabitants. Here will -probably be the terminus of the proposed railroads to bind India and -the gulf to Europe by the shortest route. The whole country round about -being practically desert, the place is entirely dependent on its trade -for support. It possesses more bagalows (sailing-vessels) than any port -in the gulf; is remarkably cleanly; has some very well-built houses -and an extensive dockyard for boat building. The town and tribe are -nominally under Turkish subjection, although protection is the better -word, and it is rumored that Kuweit will soon be as much in the hands -of the English as is Bahrein. - -The Bedouin tribes of Northern Hassa, and even from Nejd, bring -horses, cattle and sheep to this place to barter for dates, clothing -and fire-arms. There is nearly always a large encampment of Bedouins -near the town. The route overland from Kuweit to Busrah is across the -desert until we come to an old artificial canal; leaving Jebel Sinam to -the left the second march brings us to Zobeir, a small village on the -site of ancient Busrah, and only a few hours to the present site. At -Zobeir is the tomb of the Moslem leader for whom the town is named. -The village contains about 400 houses, and the population is rich and -fanatical. In the vicinity are gardens where a kind of melon is raised, -which is celebrated in all the region round about for sweetness and -delicacy of flavor. The journey from Kuweit to Busrah is generally -made, even by natives, in bugalows; while the Persian Gulf steamers, -not calling at Kuweit, proceed direct from Bushire to Fao, at the mouth -of the Shatt-el-Arab. A great hindrance to commerce is the bar formed -by the alluvial deposit of the immense river as it reaches the gulf. -At low tide there is only ten feet of water in the deepest part of the -channel, and even at flood tide large steamers must plow their way -through the mud to reach Busrah. - -Fao is of no importance except as the terminus of the cable from -Bushire. A British telegraph station was established here in 1864. The -Turkish telegraph system from up the rivers terminates at Fao, and -here too they have a representative to govern the place and enforce -stringent quarantine. The Shatt-el-Arab winds motononously between the -vast date-orchards or desert banks for about forty miles, until we -reach the Karun river and the Persian town of Mohammerah. Busrah is -sixty-seven miles from the bar and between it and Fao there are many -important villages on each bank of the river. Aboo Hassib is perhaps -the most important and is a great centre for date-culture and packing. - -Busrah consists of the native city—containing the principal bazaars, -the government house, and the bulk of the population—and the new town -on the river. The native town is about two miles from the river on a -narrow creek, called _Ashar_; a good road runs along the bank, and -this road really unites the two parts of the city into one as it is -lined with dwelling-houses for a large part of the way. Busrah has seen -better days, but also worse. In the middle of the eighteenth century -it numbered upward of 150,000 inhabitants. In 1825, it had diminished -to 60,000; the plague of 1831 reduced it further by nearly one-half, -and after the plague of 1838, scarcely 12,000 inhabitants remained. -In 1854, it is said to have had only 5,000 inhabitants. At present -the place is growing yearly in population and importance in spite of -misgovernment and ruinous taxation. It has every natural advantage -over Bagdad, except climate, and will yet outstrip the city of the -old caliphs, if Turkey’s rule mends or ends. The present population -of the city proper is given by Ottoman authorities at 18,000. Many -ruins all over the plains and in the surrounding gardens tell of its -former extent and splendor. At present the native town looks sadly -dilapidated, and tells the story of neglect and decay. The unexampled -filthiness of the streets and the undrained marshes in the environs -make the place proverbially unhealthy. This unhygienic condition is not -improved by the Ashar Creek being at the same time the common sewer -and the common water supply for over one-half of the population. The -wealthy classes send out boats to bring water from the river, but all -the poorer people use the creek. Such are the results of an imbecile -government which could easily drain the marshes and supply every one -with great abundance of pure water. - -Ancient Busrah, near the present site of Zobeir, was founded in 636 A. -D., by the second Caliph Omar as a key to the Euphrates and Tigris. It -reached great prosperity, and was the home of poetry and grammatical -learning, as Bagdad was the centre of science and philosophy. After -the twelfth century the city began to decay, and at the conquest of -Bagdad by Murad IV., in 1638, this entire stretch of country fell -into the hands of the Turks. Then the present city took the name of -Busrah. Later it was in the hands of the Arabs and Persians, and -from 1832 to 1840, Mohammed Ali was in possession. Under the rule of -Midhat Pasha, governor-general of Bagdad, the city of Busrah arose in -importance partly because of the Turkish Steam Navigation Company which -he promoted. But it was a dream-life. English commerce and enterprise -aroused the place thoroughly, and the whistle of steamships has kept -it awake ever since the Suez canal opened trade with Europe by way of -the gulf.[40] - -In making the journey from Busrah to Bagdad the traveller has choice -of two lines of river-steamers: the Ottoman service has six steamers -and the English company three, but the latter are only allowed to use -two by the Turkish government. For romance, discomfort and tediousness, -choose the former; for all other reasons select the latter. I have -tried both. The English steamers carry the mails to Bagdad and make -weekly trips; four or five days being required for the journey up -stream, and three days down, although when the water is low the journey -may be long delayed. In bad or shallow places the steamers often -discharge a part of their cargo, heave over the shallow part and load -up again. Of course trade suffers and vast quantities of merchandise -often lie for weeks at Busrah awaiting shipment. No steps are ever -taken by the Ottoman government to counteract the great waste of water -which flows into the marshes. In course of time, unless prevented, this -waste will lead to the closing up of the main channel of the Tigris -even as the Euphrates below Suk-es-Shiukh has become a marsh for lack -of use. - -The good Steamship _Mejidieh_ with its kindly Captain Cowley, or the -sister ship _Khalifah_ lies at anchor just off the English Consulate, -the blue-peter flies overhead and the decks are overcrowded with all -sorts and conditions of men—Persians, Turks, Indians, Arabs, Armenians, -Greeks;—baggage, bales, boxes, water-bottles—chickens, geese, sheep, -horses, not to speak of the insect-population on which it is impossible -to collect freight-charges. The steamers are somewhat after the type -of the American river-steamers on the Mississippi; but no Mark Twain -has yet arisen to immortalize them, although they afford an even -more fertile theme. With a double deck and broad of beam they carry -hundreds of passengers and an astonishing amount of cargo for their -size. The accommodation during cool weather is excellent, and during -the hot days no one travels for the sake of luxury. - -The first place at which the steamer calls is Kurna at the junction -of the rivers, and from whence the course is up the Tigris to Bagdad. -The Tomb of Ezra, about nine hours from Busrah, is a great place for -pilgrimages by the Jews. It is a pretty spot on the river bank and -picturesque with its crowd of embarking and disembarking Jews and -Jewesses. The tomb is a domed cloister enclosing a square mausoleum, -and paved with blue tiles. Over the doorway are two tablets of black -marble with Hebrew inscriptions attesting to the authenticity of the -tomb. It is not improbable that Ezra is buried here, for the Talmud -states that he died at Zamzuma, a town on the Tigris. He is said to -have died here on his way from Jerusalem to Susa to plead the cause of -the captive Jews. Josephus says that he was buried at Jerusalem, but no -Jew of Bagdad doubts that Ezra’s remains rest on the Tigris. - -Ten hours beyond, we pass also on the west bank, Abu Sadra, a tomb of -an Arab saint marked only by a reed-hut and a grove of poplars. Next -is Amara, a large and growing village with a coaling-depot and an -enterprising population. This place was founded in 1861, and promises -to become a centre of trade. After passing Ali Shergi, Ali Gherbi, and -Sheikh Saad, small villages, without stopping, the steamer calls at -Kut-el-Amara, a larger place even than Amara, on the east bank, with -over 4,000 inhabitants. - -[Illustration: THE REPUTED TOMB OF EZRA ON THE TIGRIS RIVER.] - -All the way from Busrah to Bagdad, but especially along this part of -the river, we pass Bedouin tribes, encamped in the black tents of -Kedar, engaged in the most primitive agriculture or irrigation of their -land, or rushing along the banks to hail the passing steamer. A hungry, -impudent, noisy, cheerful lot they are; filling the merciful with pity -and moving the thoughtless to laughter, as they scramble up and down -the banks into the water to catch a piece of bread or a few dates -thrown to them. - -[Illustration: RUINS OF THE ARCH OF CTESIPHON NEAR BAGDAD.] - -Meanwhile we steam along passing Bughela, Azizieh, Bagdadieh and -reach Bustani Kesra, or the arch of Ctesiphon. The little village of -Soleiman-Pak is named for the pious man who was the private barber of -Mohammed the prophet. After various wanderings, poor pious Pak was -buried here, only a short distance from the great arch. A village -sprang up near the tomb, pilgrims come from everywhere and miracles are -claimed to be wrought by him who when alive only handled the razor. -The whole region of Mesopotamia is more rich in saints, tombs and -pilgrim-shrines than any other part of Arabia. - -The arch of Ctesiphon is not a shrine but it is well worth a visit. -It is the only prominent object that remains of the vast ruins of -Ctesiphon on the east bank of the Tigris, and Seleucia on the west. -The arch is now almost in ruins but must once have been the façade -of a magnificent building. Its length is 275 feet, and its height is -given variously as eighty-six or one hundred feet; the walls are over -twelve feet thick and the span of the magnificent arch is nearly eighty -feet. What Ctesiphon was in the days of the Sassanian kings we read in -Gibbon. Now its glory has departed and the tomb of the Barber has more -visitors than the ancient throne of the Chosroes. Eight hours after -leaving Ctesiphon’s ruins, our steamer is in full sight of the city of -Haroun Rashid. - -Bagdad is a familiar name even to the boy who reads the Arabian tales -rather than his geography. It is one of the chief cities of the Turkish -empire and has a history much older than the empire itself. Founded -by the Caliph Mansur about the year 765 A. D., it was the capital of -the Mohammedan world for five hundred years, until it was destroyed -by Halakn, grandson of Jengiz Khan. Situated in the midst of what was -once the richest and most productive region of the old world it is -now no longer queen of the land but rather reminds us of decay and -dissolution. Its present beauties are only the ruins of former glory. -The untidy soldiers slouching about the streets, the evil-smelling -bazaars and ruined mosques, the rotten bridge of boats that spans the -river, the faces of the poor and the miserable who go begging through -the streets, indicate the curse of Turkish inanition and oppression. - -On the west bank of the river is the old town enclosed by extensive -orange and date-groves. On the east bank is New-Bagdad, which also -looks old enough. Here are the government offices, consulates, and -the chief commercial buildings as well as the custom-offices. Bagdad -is still an important city on many accounts. No other city of the -Turkish empire is influenced so much by the desert and Arabia as is -Bagdad; and no other stands in such direct contact with the towns in -the interior of the peninsula. The Arabic spoken is comparatively pure, -and Bedouin manners still prevail in many ways in the social life of -the people. The city has a very motley population, because of commerce -on the one hand and the number of pilgrim-shrines on the other. The -tombs of Abd-ul-Kadir, and Abu Hanifah and the gilded domes and -minarets which mark the resting-places of two of the Shiah Imams—all -draw their annual concourse of visitors from many lands and peoples. -All the languages of the Levant are spoken on its streets although -Arabic prevails over all. Dr. H.M. Sutton remarks, “I have been at the -bedside of a patient where in a company of half-a-dozen people we had -occasion to use five languages, and on another occasion we were in a -company of about forty people in a room where no less than fourteen -languages were represented. The land of Shinar is thus still the place -of the confusion of tongues.” Bagdad like Busrah has suffered greatly -by ravages of the plague at various times, but especially in 1830 when -the plague was followed by a fearful inundation. In one night, when the -river burst its banks 7,000 houses fell and 15,000 people perished. - -The population of Bagdad is at present variously estimated at from -120,000 to 180,000. Nearly one-third are Jews while the Oriental -Christians number about 5,000. The trade of Bagdad is large not only -with the region southwards and toward Busrah but with Nejd and Northern -Mesopotamia. The import trade from India and Europe to Bagdad is over -£1,000,000 every year, and the export trade to Europe alone is placed -at £522,960 for 1897. The river north of Bagdad is not navigable for -steamers but an immense number of _kelleks_ daily arrive from the -north loaded with lumber from Kurdistan and with other products. These -_kelleks_ are a craft made of inflated goatskins boarded over with -reeds and matting. The boatmen return with the empty skins overland -with the caravan companies. Still more characteristic of Bagdad is -the small river-boat called a _kuffe_ or coracle. It consists of a -perfectly circular hull, six to eight feet in diameter, with sides -curving inward like a huge basket, and covered with pitch. This type of -boat is as old as Nineveh and they are pictured quite accurately on the -old monuments. - -Bagdad has more than sixty-eight mosques, six churches and twenty-two -synagogues. Of the mosques some, like that of Daood Pasha, are in -fine condition; others are almost in ruins, and remind one of the -remark of Lady Ann Blunt: “A city long past its prime, its hose a -world too wide for its shrunk shanks.” The feature of Bagdad is of -course the river Tigris, with its swift-flowing tide ever washing the -mud banks and watering the gardens for miles around. The houses come -down close to the water’s edge and some of them have pretty gardens -almost overhanging the stream and terraces and verandas—oriental and -picturesque. The British Residency is perhaps most beautiful in its -location and its frontage on the river; but the other consulates vie -with it in displaying to the traveller the strength and hospitality of -European States. The European community is larger than at Busrah. - - - - - XIV - - A JOURNEY DOWN THE EUPHRATES - - -Through the kind assistance of Colonel Mockler, at that time the Bagdad -Consul General and Resident, in the autumn of 1892, I was able to make -the journey from Bagdad across to Hillah and down the Euphrates—a route -not often taken by the traveller. After making necessary preparations -and finding a suitable servant we hired two mules and left the city of -the old Caliphs with a caravan for Kerbela. It was in July and we made -our first halt four hours from Bagdad, sleeping on a blanket under the -stars. An hour after midnight the pack-saddles were lifted in place and -we were off again. It was a mixed company; Arabs, Persians, and Turks; -merchants for Hillah and pilgrims to the sacred shrines; women in those -curtained, cage-like structures called _taht-i-vans_,—two portable -zenanas hanging from each beast; dervishes on foot with green turbans, -heavy canes and awful visages: and to complete the picture a number of -rude coffins strapped cross-wise on pack-mules and holding the remains -of some “true believers,” long since ready for the holy ground at Nejf -(Nedjef). - -The caravan travelled along the desert road mostly at night to escape -the fearful heat of midday when we sought shelter in public khan. -Nothing could be more uninteresting than the country between Bagdad -and Babylon at this season of the year. The maps mark six khans on -the route, but three of these are in ruins and the others are merely -stages of a caravan rather than villages or centres of cultivation. -The soil appears excellent, but there are no irrigation canals, and -everything has a deserted appearance. A few low shrubs between the -mounds and moles of an ancient civilization; mud-houses near the -khans and some Arab encampments; camel skeletons shining white by the -wayside, under a burning sun; and a troop or two of gazelle making for -the river-banks—that is all you see until you reach the palm-banked -Euphrates at Hillah. - -The khans consist of a large enclosure with heavy walls of sun-dried -or Babylonian brick. In the interior are numerous alcoves or niches, -ten by six feet and four feet above ground; you seek out an empty -niche and find a resting-place until the caravan starts at midnight. -In the centre of the enclosure is a well and a large platform for -prayer—utilized for sleeping and cooking by late arrivals who find no -niche reserved as in our case. The rest of the court is for animals and -baggage. Usual Arab supplies were obtainable at these resting-places, -but every comfort is scarce and the innkeepers are too busy to be -hospitable. - -Khan el Haswa where we arrived the second day is the centre of a small -village of perhaps 300 people. At three in the morning we left Haswa -but it was nearly noon when we reached the river, because of a delay -on the road. The bazaar and business of Hillah were formerly on the -Babylonian side of the stream, but are now principally on the further -side of the rickety bridge of boats four miles below the ruins of -Babylon. After paying toll we crossed over and found a room in the Khan -Pasha—a close, dirty place, but in the midst of the town and near the -river. Hillah is the largest town on the Euphrates north of Busrah. -Splendid groves of date-trees surround it and stretch along the river -as far as the eye can reach. The principal merchandise of the town is -wheat, barley and dates. Of the Moslem population two-thirds are Shiah, -and the remaining Sunni are mostly Turks. There are one or two native -Christians and many Jews, but it is difficult to estimate correctly the -population of Hillah or of any of the towns on the Euphrates. At Hillah -the river is less than 200 yards wide and has a much more gentle flow -than the Tigris at Bagdad. A short distance northwest of the town is -Kerbela. It is only a village but the spot is visited by thousands of -faithful Moslems every year who venerate the twelve Imams of the Shiah -sect. Here is the tomb of Hosein the grandson of the prophet and the -son of Ali whom they believe the true successor in the Caliphate. By -living or dying here the Shiah devotee has nought to fear for the next -world. So strong is this belief that many leave directions in their -wills to be buried in this hallowed spot. Thousands of corpses are -imported some even from India—after proper drying and salting—and are -laid to rest in the sacred ground. Nejf, south of Hillah, is the place -of Ali’s martyrdom and is no less sacred for the living and the dead. - -At Kerbela the manufacture of _torbat_ is about the only industry. A -_torbat_ is a small piece of baked clay about two inches in length, -generally round or oblong, with the names of Ali and Fatima rudely -engraved on it. Made out of holy-ground, these are carried home by all -pilgrims and are used by nearly every Shiah as a resting-place for -the forehead in their prayer prostrations. According to all reports -Kerbela is similar to Mecca in its loose morals and the character of -its permanent population. - -On July 31st we left Hillah and sailed down the river in a native boat -similar to the “bellum” of Busrah, but without awning. The Euphrates -is more muddy than the Tigris, and its course, though less sinuous, is -broken here and there by shallow rapids.[41] We sailed all night and -did not stop until we arrived at Diwaniyeh the following afternoon. -Many of the villages on the way appeared to have a considerable -population; date-groves were plentiful, and we passed two or three -Mathhab or tombs of Arab Sheikhs, including that reputed to be Job’s, -“the greatest of all the sons of the East.” - -At Diwaniyeh I was directed to the Serai, or government-house, where -the Muttaserif Pasha of Hillah was forcing taxes from the unwilling -Arabs. I was kindly received, and, probably because of my passport, -was entertained at the Pasha’s table. Diwaniyeh has only a small -population, and its importance is due to its wealth of palms and the -wheat trade, which gives another opportunity for the government to -establish a toll-bridge and custom-house. - -The Arabs of this region are notorious for their piracy on native -craft, and in 1836 they even attacked the English surveying expedition. -So I left the place with a guard of two soldiers—Saadeh and Salim, -who were as happy as their names. Patching their uniforms, asleep in -the bottom of the boat, eating of our bread and dates, or polishing -their rifles marked “_U. S. Springfield_, Snider’s Pat. 1863,” we -reached Samawa safely. During the day we passed the hamlets Um Nejis, -Abu Juwareeb, Rumeitha, and Sheweit. But the general scene was that -of narrow morass channels branching out from the river, where forests -of reeds half hid mat-huts and naked Arabs. These river tribes are -not true nomads,[42] but live in one place, on fish and the products -of the river buffalo. It is a strange sight to see a herd of large -black cattle swimming across stream, pursued by shouting, swimming and -swearing herdsmen. And this was once the home of Abraham, the friend of -God. - -Near Rumeitha there was a large menzil of the Lamlum tribe. Here we -fastened the boat for the night, as our company was afraid to cross -certain rapids by starlight. Some of the Arabs came to our boat, armed -with flint-locks and the Mikwar—a heavy stick knobbed with sandstone -or hard bitumen—in Arab hands a formidable weapon. Most of the people -were asleep, and we could get no supplies of any kind except two roast -fowl from the Turkish garrison in a mud brick fort opposite. Even one -of these fell to the share of a hungry jackal during the night. We left -early in the morning, and after some difficulty in crossing the shallow -rapids, reached Samawa in four hours. Dismissing the zaptiehs, we found -a room in the Khan of Haj Nasir on the second floor and overlooking the -bazaar. - -It was the day before Ashera, the great day of Moharram, and the whole -town was in funereal excitement. All shops were closed. Shiah were -preparing for the great mourning, and Sunni sought a safe place away -from the street. As soon as I came the local governor sent word that -I must not leave the khan under any circumstances, nor venture in the -street, as he would not be responsible for Shiah violence. I remained -indoors, therefore, until the following day, and saw from the window -the confusion of the night of Ashera, the tramp of a mob, the beating -of breasts, the wailing of women, the bloody banners, and mock-martyr -scenes, the rhythmic howling and cries of “Ya Ali! ya Hassan! ya -Hussein!” until throats were hoarse and hands hung heavy for a moment, -only to go at it again. A pandemonium, as of Baal’s prophets on Carmel, -before the deaf and dumb God of Islam,—monotheistic only in its book. -“There is no god but God,” and yet to the Shiah devotees of Moharram, -“He is not in all their thoughts.” The martyr caliphs of Nejf are their -salvation and their hope, the Houris’ lap. - -[Illustration: A PUBLIC KHAN IN TURKISH-ARABIA.] - -Between Samawa and Nasariya, the next important town, we passed the -villages: Zahara, El Kidr, Derj Kalat, (where there is a Turkish Mudir -and a telegraph station on the Hillah-Busrah wire) Luptika, El Ain, Abu -Tabr and El Assaniyeh. The river begins to broaden below Samawa, and -its banks are beautiful with palms and willows. We were again delayed -at a toll-bridge; there must be taxes everywhere in Turkey, on ships -and on fishermen, on boats and on bridges, on tobacco and on salt; -but this taxing of the same cargo at every river port is peculiar. - -[Illustration: ARAB PILGRIMS ON BOARD A RIVER STEAMER.] - -Nasariya is a comparatively modern town and better built than any -on the Euphrates river. Its bazaar is large and wide, and the -government-houses are imposing for Arabdom. A small gunboat lies -near the landing, and this floating tub, with its soldier guard and -bugle-call, represents the only civilization that has yet come to the -Euphrates valley, and is a thing of wonder to the Arabs. Opposite -Nasariya are two large walled enclosures, wheat granaries protected -from Arab robbers. Three hours west are the ruins of Mugheir—Ur of the -Chaldees. - -Our meheleh sailed down the river before daylight and five hours later -came to Suk el Shiukh, “the bazaar of old men.” Abd el Fattah, in -whose Persian kahwah we found a place, is a cosmopolitan. He had seen -“Franjees” before, had been to Bombay, Aden and Jiddah, knew something -of books, a little less of the gospel, and spoke two English words, of -which he was very proud, “Stop her” and “Send a geri.” He was a model -innkeeper, and had it not been for his tea and talk, the three days of -stifling heat under a mat-roof would have been less tolerable. - -South of Suk el Shiukh the river widens into marshes, where the channel -is so shallow that part of the cargo of all river boats is transferred -to smaller craft. On account of this delay, we ran short of provisions -before reaching Kurna, and our boatmen were such prejudiced sectarians -that it required argument and much backsheesh to bargain for some -rice and the use of their cooking-pot. We were “nejis,” “kafir,” and -what not, and the captain vowed he would have to wash the whole boat -clean at Busrah from the footprints of the unbelievers. Between Suk -and the junction of the two rivers to form the Shatt-el-Arab at Kurna, -there are many wide, waste marshes, growing reeds and pasture for the -buffalo—a breeding place for insect life and the terror of the boatmen -because of the Me’dan pirates. We were three days on this part of the -river, and often all of us were in the water to lift and tug the boat -over some mud-bank. El Kheit is the only village of any size the whole -distance, but the Bedouin of the swamp, who live half the time in the -water and have not arrived at even the loincloth stage of civilization, -are a great multitude. At length we reached Kurna and thence, by the -broad, lordly, Shatt-el-Arab to the mission-house at Busrah. - -What is to be the future of this great and wealthy valley, which -once supported myriads and was the centre of culture and ancient -civilization? Will it evermore rest under the blight of the fez and the -crescent? The one curse of the land is the inane government and its -ruthless taxation. The goose with the golden egg is killed every day in -Turkey—at least robbed to its last _nest-egg_. The shepherd-tribes, the -villagers, the nomads, the agricultural communities, all suffer alike -from the same cause. When and whence will deliverance come? Perhaps a -partial reply to these two questions will be found if we read between -the lines in our chapter on the recent politics of Arabia. A _Turkish_ -railroad in the Euphrates valley would rust; but a railroad under -any other government would develop a region capable of magnificent -improvement. - - - - - XV - - THE INTERIOR—KNOWN AND UNKNOWN - - “The central provinces of Nejd, the genuine Wahabi country, is to the - rest of Arabia a sort of a lion’s den on which few venture and yet - fewer return.”—_Palgrave._ - - “A desert world of new and dreadful aspect! black camels, and uncouth - hostile mountains; and a vast sand wilderness shelving toward the dire - impostor’s city.”—_Doughty._ - - -The region which, for want of a more definite name, we may call the -Interior includes four large districts. Three of these have been -comparatively well explored and mapped, but the fourth is utterly -unknown. These districts are: Roba’-el-Khali, Nejran with Wady Dauasir, -Nejd proper, and Jebel Shammar. - -It is surprising that at the close of the nineteenth century there -should remain so many portions of our globe still unexplored. We -have better maps of the north pole and of the moon than we have of -Southeastern Arabia and parts of Central Asia. A triangle formed by -lines drawn from Harrara in Oman to El Harik in Southern Nejd, thence -to Marib in Yemen and back to Harrara will measure very nearly 500 -miles on each of its upper sides and 800 on the base. This triangle, -with an area of 120,000 square miles is as utterly unknown to the world -at large as if it were an undiscovered continent in some polar sea. -Never has it been crossed by any European traveller or entered by an -explorer. It includes all the _hinterland_ of the Mahrah and Gharah -tribes, all western Oman and the so-called Roba’-el-Khali (literally, -“empty abode”) of the Dahna desert, as well as that mysterious region -of El Ahkaf to which the Koran refers and which is said by the Arabs -to be a sea of quicksands, able to swallow whole caravans. - -On most maps the region in question is left blank; others designate -it as an uninterrupted desert from Mecca to Oman; while Ptolemy’s map -describes the region as producing myrrh and abounding in Arab tribes -and caravan-routes. Whatever we know of the country at present must be -the result of Arab hearsay booked by travellers in the coast-provinces. -The few names of places given in the Roba’-el-Khali would _not_ lead -one to suppose that “uninterrupted desert” was its only characteristic -feature. In the north are Jebel Athal (the Tamarisk Mountains), and -Wady Yebrin. Wady Shibwan and Wady Habuna seem to extend at least some -distance into the triangle from the west, while, in the very centre -we have the very unusual names for a desert region Belad-ez-Zohur -(Flower-country) and El-Joz (the nut-trees). There is no doubt that a -large part of the region is now desert and uninhabited; but it may not -always have been so and may hold its own secrets, archæological and -geographical. - -An Arab of Wady Fatima told Doughty, what the divine partition of the -world was in the following words: “Two quarters Allah divided to the -children of Adam, the third part He gave to Gog and Magog, a manikin -people, parted from us by a wall, which they shall overskip in the -latter days; and then will they overrun the world. Of their kindred be -the gross Turks and the misbelieving Persians; but you, the Engleys -are of the good kind with us. The fourth part of the world is called -Roba’-el-Khali, the empty quarter.” Doughty adds, “I never found any -Arabian who had aught to tell, even by hearsay, of that dreadful -country. Haply it is Nefud, with quicksands, which might be entered -into and even passed with milch dromedaries in the spring weeks. Now my -health failed me; otherwise I had sought to unriddle that enigma.” It -still awaits solution. In Oman they say it is only twenty-seven days’ -caravan march overland to Mecca right through the desert; perhaps from -the Oman highlands one could more easily penetrate into the unknown and -get safely to Riad if not to Yemen. - -Nejran, celebrated as an ancient Christian province of Arabia and -sacred by the blood of martyrs, lies north of Yemen and east of the -Asir country. Together with the Dauasir-Wady region it forms a strip -of territory about 300 miles long and 100 broad, well-watered and even -more fertile than the best parts of Yemen[43]. The intrepid traveller, -Halévy (1870) first visited this region from Yemen and found a large -Jewish population in the southern part. He visited the towns Mahlaf, -Rijlah and Karyet-el-Kabil, penetrated Wady Habuna but could not -succeed in reaching Wady Dauasir. He describes the fertility of the -Wadys and the extensive date-plantations of this part of Arabia in -terms of greatest admiration. Ruins and inscriptions are plentiful. -In Wady Dauasir the Arabs say that the palm-groves extend three -dromedary-journeys. The people are all agricultural Arabs but, as -in Oman, they live in continual feud and turmoil because of tribal -jealousies and old quarrels. - -The region east of Wady Dauasir is called Aflaj or Felej-el-Aflaj, two -days’ journey distant, here there are also palm-oases. It is six days’ -journey thence to Riad, but the way is rugged, without villages.[44] -It was along Wady Dauasir that I had hoped to make the overland -journey from Sana to Bahrein in 1894, once beyond Turkish espionage -the way would have been open. According to the testimony of Halévy -the inhabitants of Nejran and Wady Dauasir are not fanatical. Nowhere -in Yemen are the Jews treated so kindly as by the Arabs of Nejran. -This entire region must also be classed with the fertile districts of -Arabia. Water is everywhere abundant coming down from the Jebel Rian, -fifteen days’ journey from Toweyk and from the southern ranges of Jebel -Ban and Jebel Tumra. The inhabitants of Nejran and of Southern Dauasir -are heretical Moslems. They belong to the Bayadhi sect like the people -of Oman,[45] and are supposed to be followers of Abd-Allah-bin-Abad -(746 A. D.). - -Historically, Nejran is of special interest because here it was that -the Roman army of 11,000 men sent by Augustus Cæsar under Ælius Gallus -to make a prey of the chimerical riches of Arabia Felix came to grief. -The warriors did not fall in battle but, purposely misled by the -Nabateans, their allies, they marched painfully over the waterless -wastes in Central Arabia six months; the most perished in misery and -only a remnant returned. Strabo, writing from the mouth of Gallus -himself, who was his friend and prefect of Egypt, gives a description -of the Arabian desert that cannot be improved: “It is a sandy waste -with only a few palms and pits of water; the acacia thorn and the -tamarisk grow there; the wandering Arabs lodge in tents and are camel -graziers.” - -Nejd—the heart of Arabia, the genuine Arabia, the Arabia of the -poets—is properly bounded,—on the east, by the Turkish province of -Hasa; on the south by the border of the desert near Yemama; on the -west by Hejaz in its widest extent to Khaibar; and on the north by -Jebel Shammar. Thus defined it includes the regions of El-Kasim, -El-Woshem, El-Aared, and Yemama. The “Zephyrs of Nejd” are the pregnant -theme of many an Arab poet and in these highlands, the air is crisp and -dry and invigorating, especially to the visitors from the hot and moist -coast provinces. It was such a poet who wrote in raptures of the Nejd -climate: - - “Then said I to my companion while the camels were hastening - To bear us down the pass between Menifah and Demar. - ‘Enjoy while thou canst the sweets of the meadows of Nejd; - With no such meadows and sweets shalt thou meet after this evening.’ - Ah! heaven’s blessing on the scented gales of Nejd, - And its greensward and groves glittering from the spring showers; - And thy dear friends when thy lot was cast in Nejd— - Months flew past, they passed and we knew not, - Nor when their moons were new nor when they waned.” - -As to the real and prosaic features of the country, Nejd is a plateau -of which Jebel Toweyk is the centre and backbone. Its general height -above the sea is about 4,000 feet, but there are more lofty ledges and -peaks, some as high as 5,500 feet. These highlands are for the most -clothed with fine pasture; trees are common, solitary or in little -groups; and the entire plateau is intersected by a maze of valleys -cut out of the sandstone and limestone. In these countless hollows is -concentrated the fertility and the population of Nejd. The soil of the -valleys is light, mixed with marl sand and pebbles washed down from the -cliffs. Water is found everywhere in wells at a depth of not much over -fifteen feet and often less; in Kasim it has a brackish taste, and the -soil is salty, but in other parts of Nejd there are traces of iron in -it. The climate of all Nejd, according to Palgrave, is perhaps one of -the healthiest in the world. The air is dry, clear and free from all -the malarial poison of the coast; the summers are warm but not sultry, -and the winter air is biting cold. The usual monotony of an Arabian -landscape is not only enlivened by the presence of the date-palm near -the villages, but by groups of Talh, Nebaa’ and Sidr, the Ithl and -Ghada Euphorbia—all of them good-sized shrubs or trees.[46] - -Nejd is pasture land, so that its breed of sheep are known all over -Arabia; their wool is remarkably fine, almost equal to Cashmire in -softness and delicacy. Camels abound; according to Palgrave, Nejd is -“a wilderness of camels.” The color is generally brownish white or -grey; black camels are found westward and southward in the inhospitable -Harra-country toward Mecca. Oxen and cows are not uncommon. Game is -plenty, both feathered and quadruped. Partridges, quail, a kind of -bustard; gazelle, hares, jerboa, wild-goat, wild-boars, porcupine, -antelope, and a kind of wild-ox (wathyhi) with beautiful horns. Snakes -are not common, but lizards, centipedes and scorpions abound. The -ostrich is also found in western Nejd as well as in Wady Dauasir. The -Bedouin hunt them to sell the skins to the Damascus feather merchants -who come down with the Haj every year to Mecca; forty reals (dollars) -was the price paid in Doughty’s time for a single skin—a small fortune -to the poor nomad. Mounted on their dromedaries they watch for the -bird and then waylay it, matchlock ready to hand. The Arabs esteem the -breast of the ostrich good food; the fat is a sovereign remedy with -them and half a _finjan_ (the measure of an Arab coffee-cup), is worth -half a Turkish mejidie. The ostrich is no longer as common in Arabia as -formerly, and in many parts of the peninsula the bird is unknown even -by name. - -Nejd is a land of camels and horses. But although a fine breed of -the latter exist it is a common mistake to suppose that horses are -plentiful in Central Arabia and that every Arab owns his steed. -Doughty says “there is no breeding or sale of horses at Boreyda or -Aneyza nor any town in Nejd.” Most of the horses shipped from Busrah or -Kuweit to Bombay are not from Nejd, although originally of Nejd-breed, -but come from Jebel Shammar and the Mesopotamian valley. He who would -know all about the beauty of the Nejd horse must visit the Hail stables -with Palgrave who “goes raving mad” about the animals; or he can read -Lady Ann Blunt’s “Pilgrimage to Nejd” in search of horses; better still -let him buy that remarkable book by Colonel Tweedie: THE ARABIAN HORSE, -_His country and His people_. In this volume the horse is the hero and -Arabs are grooms and stable-boys. The Arab is more kind to his horse -than to any other animal. No Arab dreams of tying up a horse by the -neck, a tether replaces the halter, one of the animal’s hind-legs being -encircled about the pastern by a light iron ring or leather strap, -and connected with a chain or rope to an iron peg. Nejdi horses are -specially valuable for great speed and endurance. They are all built -for riding and not for draught, to the unprofessional eye they do not -seem at all superior to the best horses seen in London or New York -City, but I leave the matter to the authorities mentioned.[47] - -The government of Nejd indicates what the independent rulers of Arabia -are like. Doughty testifies that the sum of all he could learn from -the mouth of the Arabs themselves of Ibn Rashid’s government (now in -the hands of Abd-el-Aziz bin Mitaab, his nephew) was this: “He makes -sure of them that may be won by gifts, he draws the sword against -his adversaries, he treads down them that fear him and he were no -right ruler, hewed he no heads off!” Some of the nomads consider the -prince of Nejd a tyrant, but the villagers generally are well content. -Forsooth it is better for them to have _one_ tyrant than _many_, as in -the days before the political upheaval that unified central Arabia. -Other of the more religious folk of Nejd cannot forget the bloody path -by which Ibn Rashid gained his seat of power and call him “_Nejis_, -(polluted), a cutter-off of his kinsfolk with the sword.” - -Lavish sums in the eyes of the starved Bedouin are spent on hospitality -but all guests are pleased and depart from the pile of rice to praise -God and the Amir of Nejd. Daily, in the guest-room, according to -Doughty, one hundred and eighty messes of barley-bread with rice and -butter are served to the men freely; a camel or smaller animal is -killed for the first-class guests and the total expense of his famous -hospitality is not over £1,500 annually. The revenues are immense and -Ibn Rashid’s private fortune had grown large even when Doughty visited -him in 1877. He has cattle innumerable and “40,000 camels”; some 300 -blooded mares and 100 horses; over 100 negro slaves; besides private -riches laid up in silver metal, land at Hail and plantations in Jauf. - -Contrasted with the Turkish provinces of Arabia the subjects of the -Amir of Nejd enjoy light taxation and even the Bedouin warriors who are -in the service of the Nejd ruler receive better wages than the regular -troops of the Sultan. From the descrip- - -tion of Mr. and Mrs. Blunt and Doughty at Hail, one cannot but feel -that the government of Nejd is much more liberal and less fanatical -than it was in the old days of the Wahabis as described by Palgrave. -The old Wahabi power is now broken forever and Nejd is getting into -touch with the world through commerce. Kasim already resembles the -border-lands and the inhabitants are worldly-wise with the wisdom of -the Bombay horse-dealers. Many of the youth of Nejd visit Bagdad, -Busrah and Bahrein in their commercial ventures. Says Doughty, “all -Nejd Arabia, east of Teyma, appertains to the Persian Gulf traffic and -not to Syria [as does western Nejd]: and therefore the foreign color of -Nejd is Mesopotamian.” He marvelled at the erudition of the Nejd Arabs -in spite of their isolation until he found that even here newspapers -had found their way in recent years. English patent medicines are sold -in the bazaar of Aneyza and the Arabs are somewhat acquainted with the -wonders of Bombay and Calcutta. Palgrave found the inhabitants of Kasim -and southern Nejd far more intelligent than those of the north. Except -for the four large towns of Hail, Riad, Boreyda and Aneyza, Nejd has -no large centres of population. Bedouin tribes are found everywhere -and villagers cultivate the fertile oases even in the desert; but the -population is not as dense as in Oman or Yemen nor even as in Nejran -and Wady Dauasir. - -Hail, the present capital of Nejd, may have a population of ten -thousand within its walls. It lies east of Jebel Aja, a granite range -6,000 feet high ending abruptly at this point. The city is on a -table-land 3,500 feet above the sea. The Amir’s castle is a formidable -stronghold occupying a position of immense natural strength in the -Jebel Aja. Blunt visited this place in 1878, but does not give its -exact site, “lest the information might be utilized by the Turks under -possible future contingencies.” We have three pen-pictures of Hail: -that of Palgrave who drew a plan of the city; the description of -Doughty with his plan of the Amir’s residence and - -guest-house; and the sketches of Lady Ann Blunt on her pilgrimage. It -is a walled town with several gates, a large market-place, the palaces -overtopping all and mosques sufficient for the worshippers. It is a -clean, well-built town, according to Doughty and pleasant to live in -save for the awe of the tyrant-ruler. Its circuit may be nearly an -hour, in the centre of the walled enclosure stands the palace; near it -the great mosque and directly opposite the principal bazaar. The great -coffee-hall where the Amir gives his audiences is eighty feet long -with lofty walls and of noble proportions. It has long rows of pillars -“upholding the flat roof of ethel timbers and palm-stalk mat-work, -goodly stained and varnished with the smoke of the daily hospitality. -Under the walls are benches of clay overspread with Bagdad carpets. -By the entry stands a mighty copper-tinned basin or ‘sea’ of fresh -water with a chained cup, from thence the coffee-server draws and -he may drink who thirsts. In the upper end of this princely _kahwa_ -(coffee-house) are two fire-pits, like shallow graves, where desert -bushes are burned in colder weather; they lack good fuel, and fire is -blown commonly under the giant coffee-pots in a clay hearth like a -smith’s furnace.” - -The palace castles are built in Nejd with battled towers of clay-brick -and whitened on the outside with _jiss_ or plaster; this in contrast -with the palm-gardens in the walled-enclosure give the town a bright, -fresh aspect. Outside the walls, the contrast of the Bedouin squalor -and the rusty black basalt rocks lying in rough confusion is intense. -Hail lies in the midst of a barren country and is an oasis not by -nature but by the pluck and perseverance of its founders. The Shammar -Arabs settled here from antiquity and the place is mentioned in the -ancient poem of Antar. - -_Er-Riadh_ or Riad (the “gardens-in-the-desert”) was the Wahabi -metropolis of Eastern Nejd and of all the Wahabi empire. The city lies -in the heart of the Aared country, enclosed north and south by Jebel -Toweyk and about 280 miles southeast of Hail. It is a large place -(according to Palgrave of 30,000 population!), but nothing is known -of its present state, as no European traveller has visited it since -Palgrave. The general appearance of Riad, according to our guide is -like that of Damascus. “Before us stretched a wide open valley, and -in its foreground, immediately below the pebbly slope on whose summit -we stood, lay the capital, large and square, crowned by high towers -and strong walls of defence, a mass of roofs and terraces, where, -overtopping all, frowned the huge but irregular pile of Feysul’s royal -castle, and hard by it rose the scarce less conspicuous palace, built -and inhabited by his eldest son, Abdallah. All around for full three -miles over the surrounding plain, but more especially to the west and -south, waved a sea of palm-trees above green fields and well-watered -gardens; while the singing, droning sound of the water-wheels reached -us even where we had halted at a quarter of a mile or more from -the nearest town-walls. On the opposite side southward, the valley -opened out into the great and even more fertile plains of Yemama, -thickly dotted with groves and villages, among which the large town -Manhufah, hardly inferior in size to Riad itself, might be clearly -distinguished.... In all the countries which I have visited, and they -are many, seldom has it been mine to survey a landscape equal to this -in beauty, and in historical meaning, rich and full alike to the eye -and the mind. The mixture of tropical aridity and luxuriant verdure, -of crowded population and desert tracts, is one that Arabia alone -can present, and in comparison with which Syria seems tame and Italy -monotonous.”[48] - -Undoubtedly the population of Riad has diminished since the seat of -government was transferred to Hail; at present it has even less trade -and importance than Hofhoof (Hassa) since the Turkish occupation. - -JEBEL SHAMMAR and the northwestern desert, remain to be considered. -The chief characteristics of this region are the extensive _Nefuds_ or -sandy-deserts and the nomad population. Jebel Shammar more than any -part of Arabia is the tenting ground for the sons of Kedar. Everywhere -are the black-worsted booths—the houses of goat-hair, so celebrated in -Arabic poetry and song. Place-names on the map of this country are not -villages or cities but watering-places for cattle and encampments of -the tribes from year to year. From the Gulf of Akaba to the Euphrates, -and as far north as their flocks can find pasture, the nomads call the -land their own. Many of them are subject to the government of Nejd and -pay a small annual tribute; some are nominally under Turkish rule and -others know no ruler save their Sheikh and have no law save that of -immemorial Bedouin custom. - -Burckhardt discourses of these people like one who has dwelt among -them, tasting the sweet and bitter of their hungry, homely life. He -describes their tents and their simple furniture, arms, utensils, diet, -arts, industry, sciences, diseases, religion, matrimony, government, -and warfare. He tells of their hospitality to the stranger; their -robbery of the traveller; their blood-revenge and blood-covenants; -their slaves and servants; their feasts and rejoicings; their domestic -relations and public functions; their salutations and language; and -how at last they bury their dead in a single garment, scraping out a -shallow grave in hard-burned soil and heaping on a few rough stones to -keep away the foul hyenas. - -Burckhardt devotes a considerable portion of his book to an enumeration -of the Bedouin-tribes and their numerous subdivisions. These will prove -of great service to those who visit or cross the northern part of the -Peninsula. The most important tribe is that of the _Anaeze_. They are -nomads in the strictest acceptation of the word, for they continue -during the whole year in almost constant motion. Their summer quarters -are near the Syrian frontiers and in winter they retire into the heart -of the desert or toward the Euphrates. When the tents are few they are -pitched in a circle and called _dowar_, in greater numbers, they encamp -in rows, one behind the other, especially along a rivulet or wady-bed; -such encampments are called _Nezel_. The Sheikh’s or chief’s tent has -the principal place generally toward the direction whence guests or -foes may be expected. The Anaeze tents are always of black goat’s-hair; -some other tribes have stuff striped white and black. Even the richest -among them never have more than one tent unless he happen to have a -second wife who cannot live on good terms with the first; he then -pitches a smaller tent near his own. But polygamy is very unusual among -the Bedouin Arabs, although divorce is common. The tent furniture is -simplicity itself; camel-saddles and cooking utensils with carpets and -provision skins, are all the Arab housewife has to look after. - -Since the days of Job the Bedouin have been a nation of robbers. “The -oxen were plowing and the asses feeding beside them; and the Sabeans -fell upon them and took them away, yea they have slain the servants -with the edge of the sword.” (Job i. 14.) The Bedouin’s hand is -against every man in all Jebel Shammar to this day. The tribes are in -a state of almost perpetual war against each other; it seldom happens, -according to Burckhardt, that a tribe enjoys a moment of general peace -with all its neighbors, yet the war between two tribes is not of long -duration. Peace is easily made and easily broken. In Bedouin parlance -a salt covenant is only binding while the salt is in their stomachs. -General battles are rarely fought, and few lives are lost; to surprise -an enemy by sudden attack, or to plunder a camp, are the chief objects -of both parties. The dreadful effects of “blood-revenge” (by which -law the kindred of the slain are in duty bound to slay the murderer -or his kin) prevent many sanguinary conflicts. Whatever the Arabs -take in their predatory excursions is shared according to previous -agreement. Sometimes the whole spoil is equally divided by the Sheikh -among his followers; at other times each one plunders for himself. A -Bedouin raid is called a _ghazu_, and it is worthy of remark that the -earliest biographer of Mohammed, Ibn Ishak, so designates the wars of -the prophet of God with the Koreish. The Anaeze Bedouin never attack -by night, for during the confusion of a nocturnal assault the women’s -apartments might be entered, and this they regard as treachery. The -female sex is respected even among the most inveterate enemies whenever -a camp is plundered, and neither men, women nor slaves are ever taken -prisoners. It is war only for booty. The Arabs are robbers, seldom -murderers; to ask protection or _dakheil_ is sure quarter, even when -the spear is lifted. Peace is concluded generally by arbitration in -the tent of the Sheikh of a third tribe friendly to both combating -tribes. The most frequent cause of war is quarrels over wells or -watering-places and pasture grounds, just as in the days of the -patriarchs. - -“The Bedouins have reduced robbery,” says Burckhardt, “in all -its branches to a complete and regular system, which offers many -interesting details.” These details are very numerous, and the stories -of robbery and escape given by the Arabian chroniclers, or told at the -camp-fires, would fill a volume. One example will suffice us. Three -robbers plan an attack on an encampment. One of them stations himself -behind the tent that is to be robbed, and endeavors to excite the -attention of the nearest watch-dogs. These immediately attack him; he -flies, and they pursue him to a great distance from the camp, which is -thus cleared of those dangerous guardians. The second robber goes to -the camels, cuts the strings that confine their legs and makes as many -rise as he wishes. He then leads one of the she-camels out of the camp, -the others following as usual, while the third robber has all this time -been standing with lifted club before the tent-door to strike down any -one who might awake and venture forth. If the robbers succeed they then -join their companion, each seizes the tail of a strong leading-camel -and pulls it with all his might; the camels set up a gallop into the -desert and the men are dragged along by their booty until safe distance -separates them from the scene of robbery. They then mount their prey -and make haste to their own encampment. - -Before we lightly condemn the robber we must realize his sore need. -According to Doughty and other travellers three-fourths of the -Bedouin of Northwestern Arabia suffer continual famine and seldom -have enough to eat. In the long summer drought when pastures fail and -the gaunt camel-herds give no milk they are in a sorry plight; then -it is that the housewife cooks her slender mess of rice secretly, -lest some would-be guest should smell the pot. The hungry gnawing of -the Arab’s stomach is lessened by the coffee-cup and the ceaseless -“tobacco-drinking” from the nomad’s precious pipe. The women suffer -most and children languish away. When one of these sons-of-desert -heard from Doughty’s lips of a land where “we had an abundance of the -blessings of Allah, bread and clothing and peace, and, how, if any -wanted, the law succored him—he began to be full of melancholy, and to -lament the everlasting infelicity of the Arabs, whose lack of clothing -is a cause to them of many diseases, who have not daily food nor -water enough, and wandering in the empty wilderness, are never at any -stay—and these miseries to last as long as their lives. And when his -heart was full, he cried up to heaven, ‘Have mercy, ah Lord God, upon -Thy creature which Thou createdst—pity the sighing of the poor, the -hungry, the naked—have mercy—have mercy upon them, O Allah!’” - -As we bid farewell to the tents of Kedar and the deserts of North -Arabia let us say amen to the nomad’s prayer and judge them not harshly -in their misery lest we be judged. - - - - - XVI - - “THE TIME OF IGNORANCE” - - “The religious decay in Arabia shortly before Islam may well be taken - in a negative sense, in the sense of the tribes losing the feeling - of kinship with the tribal gods. We may express this more concretely - by saying that the gods had become gradually more and more nebulous - through the destructive influence exercised, for about two hundred - years, by Jewish and Christian ideas, upon Arabian heathenism “—_H. - Hirschfeld_, in the “Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.” - - -In order to understand the genesis of Islam we must know something of -the condition of Arabia before the advent of Mohammed. We shall then -be able to discover the factors that influenced the hero-prophet and -made it possible for him so powerfully to sway the destinies of his own -generation and those that were to follow. - -Mohammedan writers call the centuries before the birth of their Prophet -_wakt-el-jahiliyeh_—“the time of ignorance”—since the Arabs were then -ignorant of the true religion. These writers naturally chose to paint -the picture of heathen Arabia as dark as possible, in order that the -“Light of God,” as the prophet is called, might appear more bright in -contrast. Following these authorities Sale and others have left an -altogether wrong impression of the state of Arabia when Mohammed first -appeared. The commonly accepted idea that he preached entirely new -truth and uplifted the Arabs to a higher plane of civilization is only -half true.[49] - -No part of Arabia has ever reached the high stage of civilization under -the rule of Islam which Yemen enjoyed under its Christian or even its -Jewish dynasties of the Himyarites. Early Christianity in Arabia, with -all its weakness, had been a power for good. The Jews had penetrated to -nearly every portion of the peninsula long before Mohammed came on the -scene.[50] - -In the “Time of Ignorance” the Arabs throughout the peninsula were -divided into numerous local tribes or clans which were bound together -by no political organization but only by a traditional sentiment -of unity which they believed, or feigned to believe, a unity of -blood. Each group was a unit and opposed to all the other clans. -Some were pastoral and some nomadic; others like those at Mecca and -Taif were traders. For many centuries Yemen had been enriched by the -incense-trade and by its position as the emporium of Eastern commerce. -Sprenger in his ancient geography of the peninsula says that: “The -history of the earliest commerce is the history of incense and the -land of incense was Arabia.” The immense caravan trade which brought -all the wealth of Ormuz and Ind to the West, must have been a means of -civilization to the desert. The tanks of Marib spread fertility around -and the region north of Sana was intersected by busy caravan-routes. -W. Robertson Smith goes so far as to say that “In this period the name -of Arab was associated to Western writers with ideas of effeminate -indolence and peaceful opulence ... the golden age of Yemen.” - -The Arabs had enjoyed for several thousand years, an almost absolute -freedom from foreign dominion or occupation. Neither the Egyptians, the -Assyrians, the Babylonians, the ancient Persians nor the Macedonians -in their march of conquest ever subjugated or held any part of Arabia. -But before the coming of the Prophet the proud freemen of the desert -were compelled to bend their necks repeatedly to the yoke of Roman, -Abyssinian and Persian rulers. In A. D. 105, Trajan sent his general, -Cornelius Palma, and subdued the Nabathean kingdom of North Arabia. -Mesopotamia was conquered and the eastern coast of the peninsula was -completely devastated by the Romans in A. D. 116. Hira yielded to the -monarchs of Persia as Ghassan did to the generals of Rome. Sir William -Muir writes, “It is remarked even by a Mohammedan writer that the -decadence of the race of Ghassan was preparing the way for the glories -of the Arabian prophet.” In other words Arabia was being invaded by -foreign powers and the Arabs were ready for a political leader to break -these yokes and restore the old-time independence. Roman domination -invaded even Mecca itself not long before the Hegira. “For shortly -after his accession to the throne, A. D. 610, the Emperor Heraclius -nominated Othman, then a convert to Christianity, ... as governor -of Mecca, recommending him to the Koreishites in an authoritative -letter.”[51] The Abyssinian wars and invasions of Arabia during the -century preceding Mohammed are better known. Their dominion in Yemen, -says Ibn Ishak, lasted seventy-two years, and they were finally driven -out by the Persians, at the request of the Arabs. - -Arabia was thus the centre of political schemes and plots just at the -time when Mohammed came to manhood, the whole peninsula was awake to -the touch of the Romans, Abyssinians and Persians, and ready to rally -around any banner that led to a national deliverance. - -As to the position of women in this “Time of Ignorance” the cruel -custom of female infanticide prevailed in many parts of heathen Arabia. -This was probably due, in the first instance, to poverty or famine, and -afterward became a social custom to limit population. Professor Wilken -suggests as a further reason that wars had tended to an excess of -females over males. An Arab poet tells of a niece who refused to leave -the husband to whom she had been assigned after capture. Her uncle was -so enraged that he buried all his daughters alive and never allowed -another one to live. Even one beautiful girl who had been saved alive -by her mother was ruthlessly placed in a grave by the father and her -cries stifled with earth. This horrible custom however was not usual. -We are told of one distinguished Arab, named _Saa-Saa_, who tried to -put down the practice of “digging a grave by the side of the bed on -which daughters were born.” - -Mohammed improved on the barbaric method and discovered a way by -which not some but _all_ females could be buried alive without -being murdered—namely, the veil. Its origin was one of the marriage -affairs of the prophet with its appropriate revelation from Allah. -_The veil was unknown in Arabia before that time._ It was Islam -that forever withdrew from Oriental society the bright, refining, -elevating influence of women. Keene says that the veil “lies at the -root of all the most important features that differentiate progress -from stagnation.” The harem-system did not prevail in the days of -idolatry. Women had rights and were respected. In two instances, -beside that of Zenobia, we read of Arabian _queens_ ruling over their -tribes. Freytag in his Arabian Proverbs gives a list of female judges -who exercised their office in the “time of ignorance.” According to -Nöldeke, the Nabathean inscriptions and coins prove that women held an -independent and honorable position in North Arabia long before Islam; -they constructed expensive family graves, owned large estates, and were -independent traders. The heathen Arabs jealously watched over their -women as their most valued possession and defended them with their -lives. A woman was never given away by her father in an unequal match -nor against her consent. “If you cannot find an equal match,” said -Ibn Zohair to the Namir, “the best marriage for them is the grave.” -Professor G. A. Wilken[52] adduces many proofs to show that women had a -right in every case to choose their own husbands and cites the case of -Khadijah who offered her hand to Mohammed. Even captive women were not -kept in slavery, as is evident from the verses of Hatim: - - “They did not give us Taites, their daughters in marriage; - But we wooed them against their will with our swords. - And with us captivity brought no abasement. - They neither toiled making bread nor made the pot boil; - But we mingled them with our women, the noblest, - And bare us fair sons, white of face.” - -Polyandry and polygamy were both practiced; the right of divorce -belonged to the wife as well as to the husband; temporary marriages -were also common. As was natural among a nomad race, the marriage bond -was quickly made and easily dissolved. But this was not the case among -the Jews and Christians of Yemen and Nejran. Two kinds of marriage -were in vogue. The _mota’a_ was a purely personal contract between a -man and woman; no witnesses were necessary and the woman did not leave -her home or come under the authority of her husband; even the children -belonged to the wife. This marriage, so frequently described in Arabic -poetry, was not considered illicit but was openly celebrated in verse -and brought no disgrace on the woman. In the other kind of marriage, -called _nikah_, the woman became subject to her husband by capture or -purchase. In the latter case the purchase-money was paid to the bride’s -kin. - -The position of women before Islam is thus described in Smith’s -“Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia.” “It is very remarkable that -in spite of Mohammed’s humane ordinances the place of woman in the -family and in society has steadily declined under his law. In ancient -Arabia we find ... many proofs that women moved more freely and -asserted themselves more strongly than in the modern East.... The -Arabs themselves recognized that the position of woman had fallen ... -and it continued still to fall under Islam, because the effect of -Mohammed’s legislation in favor of women was more than outweighed by -the establishment of marriages of dominion as the one legitimate type, -and by the gradual loosening of the principle that married women could -count on their own kin to stand by them against their husbands.”[53] - -In “the time of ignorance” writing was well known and poetry -flourished. Three accomplishments were coveted—eloquence, horsemanship -and liberal hospitality. Orators were in demand, and to maintain the -standard and reward excellence there were large assemblies as at Okatz. -These lasted a whole month and the tribes came long journeys to hear -the orators and poets as well as to engage in trade. The learning of -the Arabs was chiefly confined to tribal history, astrology and the -interpretation of dreams; in these they made considerable progress. - -According to Moslem tradition the science of writing was not known -in Mecca until introduced by Harb, Father of Abu Scofian, the great -opponent of Mohammed, about A.D. 560. But this is evidently an error, -for close intercourse existed long before this between Mecca and Sana -the capital of Yemen where writing was well known; and in another -tradition Abd el Muttalib is said to have _written_ to Medina for help -in his younger days, _i.e._, about 520 A. D. Both Jews and Christians -also dwelt in the vicinity of Mecca for two hundred years before the -Hegira and used some form of writing. For writing materials they -had abundance of reeds and palm-leaves as well as the flat, smooth -shoulder-bones of sheep. The seven poems are said to have been written -in gold on Egyptian silk and suspended in the Kaaba. - -In the earlier part of his mission Mohammed despised the poets for the -good reason that some, among them a poetess, wrote satirical verses -about him. The Koran says “those who go astray follow the poets” (Surah -26: 224) and a more vigorous though less elegant denouncement is -recorded in the traditions (Mishkat Bk. 22, ch. 10): “A belly full of -purulent matter is better than a belly full of poetry.” When two of the -heathen poets, Labid and Hassan embraced Islam, the prophet became more -lenient, and is reported to have said “poetry is a kind of composition -which if it is good, it is good, and if it is bad, it is bad!” - -Concerning the religion of the heathen Arabs the Mohammedan writer -Ash-Shahristani says: “The Arabs of pre-islamic times may, with -reference to religion be divided into various classes. Some of them -denied the Creator, the resurrection and men’s return to God, and -asserted that Nature possesses in itself the power of bestowing life, -but that Time destroys. Others believed in a Creator and a creation -produced by Him out of nothing but yet denied the resurrection. Others -believed in a Creator and a creation but denied God’s prophets and -worshipped false gods concerning whom they believed that in the next -world they would become _mediators_ between themselves and God. For -these deities they undertook pilgrimages, they brought offerings to -them, offered them sacrifices and approached them with rites and -ceremonies. Some things they held to be Divinely permitted, others to -be prohibited. This was the religion of the majority of the Arabs.” -This is remarkable evidence for a Mohammedan who would naturally -be inclined to take an unfavorable view. But his absolute silence -regarding the Jews and Christians of Arabia is suggestive. - -When the Arabian tribes lost their earliest monotheism (the religion -of Job and their patriarchs) they first of all adopted Sabeanism or -the worship of the hosts of heaven. A proof of this is their ancient -practice of making circuits around the shrines of their gods as well -as their skill in astrology. Very soon however the star-worship became -greatly corrupted and other deities, superstitions and practices -were introduced. Ancient Arabia was a refuge for all sorts of -religious-fugitives, and each band added something to the national -stock of religious ideas. The Zoroastrians came to East Arabia; the -Jews settled at Kheibar, Medina, and in Yemen; Christians of many sects -lived in the north and in the highlands of Yemen. For all pagan Arabia -Mecca was the centre many centuries before Mohammed. Here stood the -Kaaba, the Arabian Pantheon, with its three hundred and sixty idols, -one for each day in the year. Here the tribes of Hejaz met in annual -pilgrimage to rub themselves on the Black Stone, to circumambulate -the Beit Allah or Bethel of their creed and to hang portions of their -garments on the sacred trees. At Nejran a sacred date-palm was the -centre of pilgrimage. Everywhere in Arabia there were sacred stones -or stone-heaps where the Arab devotees congregated to obtain special -blessings. The belief in jinn or genii was well-nigh universal, -but there was a distinction between them and gods. The gods have -individuality while the jinn have not; the gods are worshipped, the -jinn are only feared; the god has one form; the jinn appear in many. -All that the Moslem world believes in regard to jinn is wholly borrowed -from Arabian heathenism and those who have read the Arabian Nights know -what a large place they hold in the everyday life of Moslems. - -The Arabs were always superstitious, and legends of all sorts cluster -around every weird desert rock, gnarled tree or intermittent fountain -in Arabia. The early Arabs therefore marked off such sacred territory -by pillars or cairns and considered many things such as shedding of -blood, cutting of trees, killing game, etc, forbidden within the -enclosure. This is the origin of the _Haramain_ or sacred territory -around Mecca and Medina. Sacrifices were common, but not by fire. The -blood of the offering was smeared over the rude stone altars and the -flesh was eaten by the worshipper. First fruits were given to the gods -and libations were poured out; a hair-offering formed a part of the -ancient pilgrimage; this also is imitated to-day. - -W. Robertson Smith tries to prove that _totemism_ was the earliest -form of Arabian idolatry and that each tribe had its sacred animal. -The strongest argument for this is the undoubted fact that many of the -tribal names were taken from animals and that certain animals were -regarded as sacred in parts of Arabia. The theory is too far-reaching -to be adopted at haphazard and the author’s ideas of the significance -of animal sacrifice are not in accord with the teaching of Scripture. -It is however interesting to know that the same authority thinks the -Arabian tribal marks or _wasms_ were originally totem-marks and must -have been tattooed on the body even as they are now used to mark -property. The _washm_ of the idolatrous Arabs seems related to their -_wasms_ and was a kind of tattooing of the hands, arms and gums. It was -forbidden by Mohammed but is still widely prevalent in North Arabia -among the Bedouin women. - -Covenants of blood and of salt are also very ancient Semitic -institutions and prevailed all over Arabia. The form of the oath was -various. At Mecca the parties dipped their hands in a pan of blood and -tasted the contents; in other places they opened a vein and mixed their -fresh blood; again they would each draw the others’ blood and smear it -on seven stones set up in the midst. The later Arabs substituted the -blood of a sheep or of a camel for human blood. - -The principal idols of Arabia were the following; ten of them are -mentioned by name in the Koran. - - _Hubal_ was in the form of a man and came from Syria; he was the god - of rain and had a high place of honor. - - _Wadd_ was the god of the firmament. - - _Suwah_, in the form of a woman, was said to be from antediluvian - times. - - _Yaghuth_ had the shape of a lion. - - _Ya’ook_ was in the form of a horse, and was worshipped in Yemen. - Bronze images of this idol are found in ancient tombs. - - _Nasr_ was the eagle-god. - - _El Uzza_, identified by some scholars with Venus, was worshipped at - times under the form of an acacia tree. - - _Allat_ was the chief idol of the tribe of Thakif at Taif who tried to - compromise with Mohammed to accept Islam if he would not destroy their - god for three years. The name appears to be the feminine of Allah. - - _Manat_ was a huge stone worshipped as an altar by several tribes. - - _Duwar_ was the virgin’s idol and young women used to go around it in - procession; hence its name. - - _Isaf_ and _Naila_ stood near Mecca on the hills of Safa and Mirwa; - the visitation of these popular shrines is now a part of the Moslem - pilgrimage. - - _Habhab_ was a large stone on which camels were slaughtered. - -Beside these there were numerous other gods whose names have been -utterly lost and yet who each had a place in the Pantheon at Mecca. -Above all these was the supreme deity whom they called ὁ θεὸς, the God, -or _Allah_. This name occurs several times in the ancient pre-islamic -poems and proves that the Arabs knew the one true God by name even in -the “time of ignorance.” To Him they also made offerings though not of -the first and best; in His name covenants were sealed and the holiest -oaths were sworn. Enemy of _Allah_ was the strongest term of opprobrium -among the Arabs then as it is to-day. Wellhausen says, “In worship -_Allah_ had the last place, those gods being preferred who represented -the interests of a particular circle and fulfilled the private desires -of their worshippers. Neither the fear of _Allah_ nor their reverence -for the gods had much influence. The chief practical consequence of -the great feasts was the observance of a truce in the holy months; and -this in time had become mainly an affair of pure practical convenience. -In general the disposition of the heathen Arabs, if it is at all truly -reflected in their poetry, was profane in an unusual degree. The -ancient inhabitants of Mecca practiced piety essentially as a trade, -just as they do now; their trade depended on the feast and its fair on -the inviolability of the Haram and on the truce of the holy months.” - -There is no doubt that at the time of Mohammed’s appearance the old -national idolatry had degenerated. Many of the idols had no believers -or worshippers. Sabeanism had also disappeared except in the north of -Arabia; although it always left its influence which is evident not only -in the Koran but in the superstitious practices of the modern Bedouins. -Gross fetishism was the creed of many. One of Mohammed’s contemporaries -said, “When they found a fine stone they adored it, or, failing that, -milked a camel over a heap of sand and worshipped that.” The better -classes at Mecca and Medina had ceased to believe anything at all. The -forms of religion “were kept up rather for political and commercial -reasons than as a matter of faith or conviction.”[54] - -Add to all this the silent but strong influence of the Jews and -Christians who were in constant contact with these idolaters and we -have the explanation of the _Hanifs_. These Hanifs were a small number -of Arabs who worshipped only _Allah_, rejected polytheism, sought -freedom from sin and resignation to God’s will. There were Hanifs at -Taif, Mecca and Medina. They were in fact seekers of truth, weary of -the old idolatry and the prevalent hollow hypocrisy of the Arabs. The -earliest Hanifs of whom we hear, were Waraka, the cousin of the prophet -Mohammed, and Zeid bin Amr, surnamed the Inquirer. Mohammed at first -also adopted this title of Hanif to express the faith of Abraham but -soon after changed it to Moslem. - -It is only a step from Hanifism to Islam. Primary monotheism, -Sabeanism, idolatry, fetishism, Hanifism, and then the prophet with the -sword to bring everything back to monotheism—monotheism, as modified -by his own needs and character and compromises. The time of ignorance -was a time of chaos. Everything was ready for one who could take in the -whole situation, social, political and religious and form a cosmos. -That man was Mohammed. - - - - - XVII - - ISLAM IN ITS CRADLE—THE MOSLEM’S GOD[55] - - “Islam was born in the desert, with Arab Sabeanism for its - mother and Judaism for its father; its foster-nurse was Eastern - Christianity.”—_Edwin Arnold._ - - “A Prophet without miracles; a faith without mysteries; and a morality - without love; which has encouraged a thirst for blood, and which began - and ended in the most unbounded sensuality.”—_Schlegel’s Philosophy of - History._ - - “As we conceive God, we conceive the universe; a being incapable of - loving is incapable of being loved.”—_Principal Fairbairn._ - - -Libraries have been written, not only in Arabic and Persian, but in -all the languages of Europe, on the origin, character and history of -Islam, the Koran and Mohammed. Views differ “as far as the east is from -the west” and as far as Bosworth Smith is from Prideaux. The earlier -European writers did not hesitate to call Mohammed a false prophet and -his system a clever imposture; some went further and attributed even -satanic agency to the success of Islam and to the words of the prophet. -Carlyle, in his “Heroes and Hero-worship,” set the pendulum swinging to -the other side so far that his chapter on the Hero-prophet is published -as a leaflet by the Mohammedan Missionary Society of Lahore. So little -did Carlyle understand the true nature of Islam that he calls it “a -kind of Christianity.” What Carlyle said was only the beginning of a -series of apologies and panegyrics which appeared soon after and placed -Mohammed not only on the pedestal of a great reformer but “a very -prophet of God,” making Islam almost the ideal religion. Syeed Ameer -Ali succeeds in his biography in eliminating every sensual, harsh and -ignorant trait from the character of the noted Meccan; and the recent -valuable book of T. W. Arnold, professor in Aligarh College, India, -attempts to prove most elaborately that Mohammedanism was propagated -without the sword. - -In contrast to this read what Hugh Broughton quaintly wrote in 1662: -“Now consider this Moamed or Machumed, whom God gave up to a blind -mind, an Ishmaelite, being a poor man till he married a widow; wealthy -then and of high countenance, having the falling sickness and being -tormented by the devil, whereby the widow was sorry that she matched -with him. He persuaded her by himself and others that his fits were -but a trance wherein he talked with the angel Gabriel. So in time -the impostor was reputed a prophet of God and from Judaism, Arius, -Nestorius and his own brain he frameth a doctrine.” In our day, the -critical labors of scholars like Sprenger, Weil, Muir, Koelle and -others have given us a more correct idea of Mohammed’s life and -character. The pendulum is still swinging but will come to rest between -the two extremes. - -We have not space to give the story of Mohammed’s life or of the -religion which he founded. An analysis of the religion has been -attempted by means of two tables, one showing its development from -its creed and the other the philosophy of its origin from outside -sources.[56] The result of a century of critical study by European and -American scholars of every school of thought has certainly established -the fact that Islam is a composite religion. It is not an invention -but a concoction; there is nothing novel about it except the genius -of Mohammed in mixing old ingredients into a new panacea for human -ills and forcing it down by means of the sword. These heterogeneous -elements of Islam were gathered in Arabia at a time when many religions -had penetrated the peninsula, and the Kaaba was a Pantheon. Unless one -has a knowledge of these elements of “the time of ignorance,” Islam -is a problem. Knowing, however, these heathen, Christian and Jewish -factors, Islam is seen to be a perfectly natural and understandable -development. Its heathen elements remain, to this day, perfectly -recognizable in spite of thirteen centuries of explanation by the -Moslem authorities. It is to the Jewish Rabbi Geiger that we owe -our first knowledge of the extent to which Islam is indebted to the -Jews and the Talmud. Rev. W. St. Clair Tisdall has recently shown -how Mohammed borrowed even from the Zoroastrians and Sabeans, while -as to the amount of Christian teaching in Islam, the Koran and its -commentators are evidence. - -There is a remarkable verse in the twenty-second chapter of the -Koran, in which Mohammed seems to enumerate all the sources that -were accessible to him in forming his new religion; and at that time -he seems to have been in doubt as to which was the most trustworthy -source. The verse reads as follows: “_They who believe and the Jews and -the Sabeans and the Christians and the Magians_ (Zoroastrians) _and -those who join other gods to God, verily God shall decide between them -on the day of Resurrection._” - -The God of Islam. GIBBON CHARACTERIZES THE FIRST PART OF the Moslem’s -creed as “an eternal truth “—(“there is no god but God”); but very much -depends on the character of the God, who is affirmed to displace all -other gods. If _Allah’s_ attributes are unworthy of deity then even the -first clause of the briefest of all creeds, is false. There has been a -strange neglect to study the Moslem idea of God and nearly all writers -take for granted that the God of the Koran is the same being and has -like attributes as Jehovah or the Godhead of the New Testament. Nothing -could be further from the truth. - -First of all the Mohammedan conception of Allah is purely negative. -God is unique and has no relations to any creature that partake of -resemblance. He cannot be defined in terms other than negative. As the -popular song has it, - - “Kullu ma yukhtaru fi balik - Fa rabbuna mukhalifun ’an thalik—”[57] - -Absolute sovereignty and ruthless omnipotence are his chief attributes -while his character is impersonal—that of a monad. Among the -ninety-nine beautiful names of God, which Edwin Arnold has used in his -poem “Pearls of the Faith,” the ideas of fatherhood, love, impartial -justice and unselfishness are absent. The Christian truth “God is love” -is to the learned, blasphemy and to the ignorant an enigma. Palgrave, -who certainly was not biased against the religion of Arabia and who -lived with the Arabs for long months, calls the theology of Islam -“the pantheism of force.” No one has ever given a better account of -_Allah_, a more faithful portrait of Mohammed’s conception of deity -than Palgrave. Every word of his description tallies with statements -which one can hear daily from pious Moslems. Yet no one who reads -what we quote in all its fullness will recognize here the God whom -David addresses in the Psalms or who became incarnate at Bethlehem and -suffered on Calvary. This is Palgrave’s statement: - -“There is no god but God—are words simply tantamount in English to the -negation of any deity save one alone; and thus much they certainly mean -in Arabic, but they imply much more also. Their full sense is, not only -to deny absolutely and unreservedly all plurality, whether of nature -or of person, in the Supreme Being, not only to establish the unity -of the Unbegetting and Unbegot, in all its simple and uncommunicable -Oneness, but besides this the words, in Arabic and among Arabs, imply -that this one Supreme Being is also the only Agent, the only Force, -the only Act existing throughout the universe, and leave to all beings -else, matter or spirit, instinct or intelligence, physical or moral, -nothing but pure, unconditional passiveness, alike in movement or in -quiescence, in action or in capacity. The sole power, the sole motor, -movement, energy, and deed is God; the rest is downright inertia and -mere instrumentality, from the highest archangel down to the simplest -atom of creation. Hence, in this one sentence, ‘La Ilāh illa Allāh,’ is -summed up a system which, for want of a better name, I may be permitted -to call the Pantheism of Force, or of Act, thus exclusively assigned to -God, who absorbs it all, exercises it all, and to whom alone it can be -ascribed, whether for preserving or for destroying, for relative evil -or for equally relative good. I say ‘relative,’ because it is clear -that in such a theology no place is left for absolute good or evil, -reason or extravagance; all is abridged in the autocratic will of the -one great Agent: ‘sic volo, sic jubeo, stet pro ratione voluntas’; or, -more significantly still, in Arabic, ‘Kemā yesha’o,’ ‘as he wills it,’ -to quote the constantly recurring expression of the Koran. - -“Thus immeasurably and eternally exalted above, and dissimilar from, -all creatures, which lie levelled before him on one common plane of -instrumentality and inertness, God is one in the totality of omnipotent -and omnipresent action, which acknowledges no rule, standard, or limit -save his own sole and absolute will. He communicates nothing to his -creatures, for their seeming power and act ever remain his alone, and -in return he receives nothing from them; for whatever they may be, -that they are in him, by him, and from him only. And secondly, no -superiority, no distinction, no preëminence, can be lawfully claimed -by one creature over its fellow, in the utter equalization of their -unexceptional servitude and abasement; all are alike tools of the -one solitary Force which employs them to crush or to benefit, to -truth or to error, to honor or shame, to happiness, or misery, quite -independently of their individual fitness, deserts, or advantage, and -simply because he wills it, and as he wills it. - -“One might at first think that this tremendous autocrat, this -uncontrolled and unsympathizing power, would be far above anything -like passions, desires or inclinations. Yet such is not the case, for -he has with respect to his creatures one main feeling and source of -action, namely, jealousy of them lest they should perchance attribute -to themselves something of what is his alone, and thus encroach on his -all-engrossing kingdom. Hence he is ever more prone to punish than to -reward, to inflict than to bestow pleasure, to ruin than to build. - -“It is his singular satisfaction to let created beings continually feel -that they are nothing else than his slaves, his tools, and contemptible -tools also, that thus they may the better acknowledge his superiority, -and know his power to be above their power, his cunning above their -cunning, his will above their will, his pride above their pride; or -rather, that there is no power, cunning, will, or pride save his own. - -“But he himself, sterile in his inaccessible height, neither loving -nor enjoying aught save his own and self-measured decree, without son, -companion, or counsellor, is no less barren for himself than for his -creatures, and his own barrenness and lone egoism in himself as the -cause and rule of his indifferent and unregarding despotism around. The -first note is the key of the whole tune, and the primal idea of God -runs through and modifies the whole system and creed that centres in -him. - -“That the notion here given of the Deity, monstrous and blasphemous as -it may appear, is exactly and literally that which the Koran conveys, -or intends to convey, I at present take for granted. But that it indeed -is so, no one who has attentively perused and thought over the Arabic -text (for mere cursory reading, especially in a translation, will not -suffice) can hesitate to allow. In fact, every phrase of the preceding -sentences, every touch in this odious portrait has been taken, to the -best of my ability, word for word, or at least meaning for meaning from -the “Book” the truest mirror of the mind and scope of its writer. And -that such was in reality Mahomet’s mind and idea is fully confirmed by -the witness-tongue of contemporary tradition.” - -The Koran shows that Mohammed had in a measure a correct knowledge of -the _physical_ attributes of God but an absolutely false conception of -his _moral_ attributes. This was perfectly natural because Mohammed had -no idea of the nature of sin—moral evil—or of holiness—moral perfection. - -The Imam El Ghazzali a famous scholastic divine of the Moslems says of -God: “He is not a body endued with form nor a substance circumscribed -with limits or determined by measure. Neither does He resemble bodies, -as they are capable of being measured or divided. Neither is He a -substance nor do substances exist in Him; neither is He an accident nor -do accidents exist in Him. Neither is He like to anything that exists; -neither is anything like to Him; nor is He determinate in quantity -nor comprehended by bounds nor circumscribed by the differences of -situation nor contained in the heavens.... His nearness is not like -the nearness of bodies nor is His essence like the essence of bodies. -Neither doth He exist in anything; neither does anything exist in Him.” -God’s will is absolute and alone; the predestination of everything -and everybody to good or ill according to the caprice of sovereignty. -For there is no Fatherhood and no purpose of redemption to soften the -doctrine of the decrees. Hell must be filled and so Allah creates -infidels. The statements of the Koran on this doctrine are coarse and -of tradition, blasphemous. Islam reduces God to the category of the -will; He is a despot, an Oriental despot, and as the _moral_-law is not -emphasized He is not bound by any standard of justice. Worship of the -creature is heinous to the Moslem mind, and yet Allah punished Satan -for not being willing to worship Adam. (Koran ii. 28-31.) Allah is -merciful in winking at the sins of the prophet but is the avenger of -all unbelievers in him. - - A God-machine, a unit-cause - Vast, inaccessible - Who doles out mercy, breaks His laws - And compromises ill. - - A God whose law is changeless fate,— - Who grants each prophet-wish— - For prayer and fasting opes heaven’s gate, - And pardons for backsheesh. - -This is _not_ “the only True God” whom we know through Jesus Christ and -so knowing have life-eternal. “No man knoweth the Father but the _Son_ -and he to whom the Son revealeth Him. He who denies the incarnation -remains ignorant of God’s true character. As Fairbairn says, “the love -which the _Godhead_ makes immanent and essential to God, gives God an -altogether new meaning and actuality for religion; while thought is not -forced to conceive Monotheism as the apotheosis of an Almighty will or -an impersonal ideal of the pure reason.” Islam knows no Godhead, and -Allah is not love. - - - Transcribers Note: To fit within page and layout constraints this - Chart the linked tabular format. The - section beginning with A; Faith and B:Practice Appears to derrive - equally from "The Doctrine of God" and "The Doctrine of Revelation" - so has been abstracted and linked from the position the author seems - to have intended. General notes have been abstracted and displayed as - footnotes. - - ANALYSIS OF ISLAM AS A SYSTEM, DEVELOPED FROM IT’S CREED. - “There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his apostle.” - - The Doctrine of God - (Negative.) - “There is no god but God.” - [Pantheism of Force] - 1. His names - of the _essence_, _Allah_ (_the absolute unit_) - of the attributes,—_Ninety-nine names_ - 2. His attributes - The physical emphasized above the _moral_. - Deification of _absolute force_. - 3. His nature - Expressed by a series of _negations_ - “He is _not_.” - To second section - The Doctrine of Revelation: (Positive.) - “Mohammed is the apostle of God.” - [The sole channel of revelation and abrogates former revelations.] - I. By the KORAN - (Wahi El Matlu) - Revelation, verbal, and which teaches the twofold demands of - Islam:— - [The Book] - II. By TRADITION - (Wahi gheir Matlu) - Revelation by example of - the perfect prophet - [The Man] - 1. Records of what Mohammed _did_ (Sunnat-el-fa’il) (example) - 2. Records of what Mohammed _enjoined_ (Sunnat-el-kaul) (precept) - 3. Records of what Mohammed _allowed_ (Sunnat-el-takrir) - (license)[A]] - A. The Sunnite Traditions: (collected and recorded by the - following six authorities) - 1. Buchari A. H. 256[B]] - 2. Muslim ” 261[B] - 3. Tirmizi ” 279[B] - 4. Abu Daood ” 275[B] - 5. An-Nasaee ” 303[B] - 6. Ibn Majah ” 273[B] - B. The Shiah Traditions: (five authorities) - 1. Kafi A. H. 329 - 2. Sheikh Ali ” 381 - 3. “Tahzib” ” 466[C] - 4. “Istibsar” ” 466[C] - 5. Ar-Razi ” 406 - III. Other Authority - a. Among the _Sunnites_: - IJMA’A or unanimous consent of the leading companions of - Mohammed concerning I. - KIYAS or the deductions of orthodox teachers from sources - I. and II. - b. Among the _Shiahs_: - The doctrine of the twelve IMAMS—beginning with _Ali_ who - interpret I. and II. - -Second Section - - A. Faith: - (what to believe) - “Iman” - 1. In God - 2. Angels - (angels, jinn, devils) - 3. Books - Modern Moslems believe that 104 “books” were - sent from heaven in the following order: - To Adam—ten books - ” Seth—fifty - ” Enoch—thirty - ” Abraham—ten - These are utterly lost. - ” Moses—the TORAH - ” David—the ZABOOR - ” Jesus—the INJIL - These are highly spoken of in the Koran but are now - in corrupted condition and have been abrogated by - the final book. - ” _Mohammed_—the KORAN (eternal in origin; complete and - miraculous in character; supreme in beauty and - authority.) - 4. Last Day (Judgement) - 5. Predestination - 6. Prophets - A. _The Greater_: - Adam—“Chosen of God” - Noah—“Preacher of God” - Abraham—“Friend of God” - Moses—“Spokesman of God” - Jesus—called “Word of God and “Spirit of God.” - MOHAMMED, (_who has 201 names and titles_) - Enoch, Hud, Salih, - Ishmael, Issac, - Jacob, Joseph, Lot, - Aaron, Shuaib, - Zakariah, John, - David, Solomon, - Elias, Job, Jonah, - Ezra, Lukman, - Zu-el-kifl and - Alexander the Great, - Elisha. - B. _The Less_: Of these there have been thousands. - Twenty-two are mentioned in the Koran: - 7. Resurrection - B. Practice - (what to do) - “Din” [_the five pillars_] - 1. Repetition of Creed - 2. _Prayer_ (five times daily) including: - 1. Purification - washing various parts of the body three times ac’d’g - to fourteen rules - 2. Posture (prostrations) - facing the kiblah (Mecca) - prostrations - genuflections - 3. Petition - Declaration - the Fatihah or first Surah. - Praise and confession—the Salaam. - 3. Fasting (month of Ramadhan) - 4. Alms giving (about 1-40 of income.) - 5. Pilgrimage - _Mecca_ (incumbent) - Medina (meritorious but voluntary) - Kerbela, Meshed Ali, etc., (Shiahs) - - [A] Verbally handed down from mouth to mouth and finally _sifted_ and - recorded by both sects: - - [B] Not one of them flourished until _three cenruries_ after Mohammed. - - [C] By Abu Jaafar. - - - ANALYSIS OF THE BORROWED ELEMENTS OF ISLAM. - - - I. From HEATHENISM - - (As existing in Mecca or prevalent - in other parts of Arabia.) - - a. Sabeanism: - - Astrological superstitions, _e. g._, that meteorites are - cast at the devil. - - Oaths by the stars and planets. (Surahs 56, 53, etc.) - - Circumambulation of Kaaba—and, perhaps, the _lunar_ calendar. - - b. Arabian Idolatry: - - Allah (as _name_ of supreme deity), used in old poets and - worshipped by Hanifs. - - Mecca—centre of religious pilgrimage—The black-stone, etc. - - Pilgrimage—_in every detail_: dress, hair offerings, - casting stones, sacrifice, running. - - Polygamy, slavery, easy divorce, and social laws generally. - - Ceremonial cleanliness, forbidden foods, _circumcision_. - - c. Zoroastrianism: - - Cosmogony—The different stories of the earth. Bridge over - hell. - - Paradise—Its character—the _houris_=pairikas of Avesta. - - Doctrine of _Jinn_ and their various kinds. Exorcism of jinn - (Surah 113, 114). - - d. Buddhism: - - The use of the rosary. - - (See Hughes’ Dict. of Islam.) - - - II. From JUDAISM - - (The Old Testament but more especially - the _Talmud_ as the source of Jewish - ideas prevalent in Arabia just - before Mohammed.) - - A. Ideas and Doctrines: - - (According to the divisions - of Rabbi Geiger.) - - 1. Words that represent Jewish ideas - (and are _not_ Arabic but Hebrew.) _Taboot_ (ark); _Torah_ - (law); _Eden_; _Gehinnom_; _Rabbi_, _Abbar_=teacher; - _Sakinat_=Shekinah; _Taghoot_ (used hundreds of times - in Koran)=error; _Furkan_, etc., etc., etc. - - 2. Doctrinal views. - - _Unity of God._ - - Resurrection. - - Seven hells and seven heavens. - - Final judgment. Signs of last day. - - Gog and Magog. - - 3. Moral and Ceremonial laws. - - Prayer. Its time, posture, direction, etc. - - Laws regarding impurity of body. Washing - with water or with sand. - - Laws regarding purification of women, etc. - - 4. Views of life - - Use of “inshallah”; age of discretion corresponds to - Talmud. - - B. Stories and Legends: - - (According to Rabbi Geiger.) - - Adam, Cain, Enoch; the fabulous things in Koran are - _identical_ with Talmud. - - Noah—the flood—Eber (Hud)—Isaac,—Ishmael—_Joseph_. - Cf. Koran with Talmud. - - Abraham—His idolatry—Nimrod’s oven—Pharao—the calf—(taken - from Talmud.) - - Moses—The fables related of him and Aaron are old Jewish - tales. - - Jethro (Shuaib); Saul (Taloot); Goliath (Jiloot), and - _Solomon_ especially. Cf. Talmud. - - III. From CHRISTIANITY - - (Corrupt form, as found in the - apocryphal gospels.) - - “_Gospel of Barnabas._” - - 1. Reverence for New Testament—Injil—(Zacharias, John, Gabriel). - - 2. Respect for religious teachers; the Koran references to - priests and monks. - - 3. Jesus Christ—His names—Word of God, Spirit of God, etc.—Puerile - miracles—_Denial of crucifixion_. (Basilidians, etc.) - - 4. The Virgin—Her sinlessness—and the apostles—“hawari” an - _Abyssinian_ word meaning “pure ones.” - - 5. Wrong ideas of the Trinity. As held by Arabian heretical sects. - - 6. Christian legends as of “Seven Sleepers,” “Alexander of the - horns,” “Lokman” (=Æsop.) - - 7. A fast month. Ramadhan to imitate lent. - - 8. Alms-giving as an essential part of true worship. - - “The Koran could not - have been composed by - any except God.... - Will they say he forged - it? Answer bring therefore - a chapter like unto - it.”—THE KORAN. (Surah Yunas.) - - - - - XVIII - - THE PROPHET AND HIS BOOK - - -In 570 A. D. Abdullah the son of Abd el Muttalib a Mecca merchant went -on a trading trip from Mecca to Medina and died there; the same year -his wife, Amina, gave birth to a boy, named _Mohammed_, at Mecca. One -hundred years later the name of this Arab lad, joined to that of the -Almighty, was called out from ten thousand mosques five times daily, -from Muscat to Morocco, and his new religion was sweeping everything -before it in three continents. - -What is the explanation of this marvel of history? Many theories have -been laid down and the true explanation is probably the sum of all -of them. The weakness of Oriental Christianity and the corrupt state -of the church; the condition of the Roman and Persian empires; the -character of the new religion; the power of the sword and fanaticism; -the genius of Mohammed; the partial truth of his teaching; the -genius of Mohammed’s successors; the hope of plunder and love of -conquest;—such are some of the causes given for the early and rapid -success of Islam. - -Mohammed was a prophet without miracles but not without genius. -Whatever we may deny him we can never deny that he was a great man with -great talents. But he was not a self-made man. His environment accounts -in a large measure for his might and for his method in becoming a -religious leader. There was first of all the political factor. “The -year of the elephant” had seen the defeat of the Christian hosts of -Yemen who came to attack the Kaaba. This victory was to the young and -ardent mind of Mohammed prophetic of the political future of Mecca and -no doubt his ambition assigned himself the chief place in the coming -conflict of Arabia against the Roman and Persian oppressors. - -Next came the religious factor. The times were ripe for religious -leadership and Mecca was already the centre of a new movement. The -Hanifs had rejected the old idolatry and entertained the hope that a -prophet would arise from among them.[60] There was material of all -sorts at hand to furnish the platform of a new faith; it only required -the builder’s eye to call cosmos out of chaos. To succeed in doing -this it would be necessary to reject material also; a comprehensive -religion and a compromising religion, so as to suit Jew and Christian -and idolater alike. - -Then there was the family factor, or, in other words, the aristocratic -standing of Mohammed. He was not a mere “camel-driver.” The Koreish -were the ruling clan of Mecca; Mecca was even then the centre for all -Arabia; and Mohammed’s grandfather, Abd el Muttalib, was the most -influential and powerful man of that aristocratic city. The pet-child -of Abd el Muttalib was the orphan boy Mohammed. Until his eighth year -he was under the shelter and favor of this chief man of the Koreish. -He learned what it was to be lordly and to exercise power, and never -forgot it. The man, his wife and his training were the determinative -factors in the character of Mohammed. The ruling factor was the mind -and genius of the man himself. Of attractive personal qualities, -beautiful countenance, and accomplished in business, he first won the -attention and then the heart of a very wealthy widow, Khadijah. Koelle -tells us that she was “evidently an Arab lady of a strong mind and -mature experience who maintained a decided ascendency over her husband, -and managed him with great wisdom and firmness. This appears from -nothing more strikingly, than from the very remarkable fact that she -succeeded in keeping him from marrying any other wife as long as she -lived, though at her death, when he had long ceased to be a young man -he indulged without restraint in the multiplication of wives. But as -Khadijah herself was favorably disposed toward Hanifism, it is highly -probable that she exercised her commanding influence over her husband -in such a manner as to promote and strengthen his own attachment to the -reformatory sect of monotheists.” - -Mohammed married this woman when he had reached his twenty-fifth year. -At the age of forty he began to have his revelations and to preach his -new religion. His first convert, naturally perhaps, was his wife, then -Ali and Zeid his two adopted children; then his friend, the prosperous -merchant, Abu-Bekr. Such was the nucleus for the new faith. - -Mohammed is described in tradition as a man above middle height, of -spare figure, commanding presence, massive head, noble brow, and -jet-black hair. His eyes were piercing. He had a long bushy beard. -Decision marked his every movement and he always walked rapidly. -Writers seem to agree that he had the genius to command and expected -obedience from equals as well as inferiors. James Freeman Clarke says -that to him more than to any other of whom history makes mention was -given: - - “The monarch mind, the mystery of commanding, - The birth-hour gift, the art Napoleon - Of wielding, moulding, gathering, welding, banding - The hearts of thousands till they moved as one.” - - -As to the moral character of Mohammed there is great diversity of -opinion and the conclusions of different scholars cannot be easily -reconciled. Muir, Dods, Badger, and others claim that he was at first -sincere and upright, himself believing in his so-called revelations, -but that afterward, intoxicated by success, he used the dignity of his -prophetship for personal ends and was conscious of deceiving the people -in some of his later revelations. Bosworth Smith and his like, maintain -that he was “a very Prophet of God” all through his life and that the -sins and faults of his later years are only specks on the sun of his -glory. Older writers, with whom I agree, saw in Mohammed only the skill -of a clever impostor from the day of his first message to the day of -his death. Koelle, whose book is a mine of accurate scholarship and -whose experience of many years mission-work in Moslem lands qualifies -him for a sober judgment, sees no striking contrast between the earlier -and later part of Mohammed’s life that cannot be easily explained -by the influence of Khadijah. He was _semper idem_, an ambitious -enthusiast choosing different means for the same end and never very -particular as to the character of the means used. - -Aside from the question of Mohammed’s sincerity no one can apologize -for his moral character if judged according to the law of his time, -the law himself professed to reveal or the law of the New Testament. -By the New Testament law of Jesus Christ, who was the last prophet -before Mohammed and whom Mohammed acknowledged as the Word of God, the -Arabian prophet stands self-condemned. The most cursory examination of -his biography proves that he broke repeatedly every sacred precept of -the Sermon on the Mount. And the Koran itself proves that the Spirit of -Jesus was entirely absent from the mind of Mohammed. The Arabs among -whom Mohammed was born and grew to manhood also had a law, although -they were idolaters, slave-holders and polygamists. Even the robbers of -the desert who, like Mohammed, laid in wait for caravans, had a code -of honor. Three flagrant breaches of this code stain the character -of Mohammed.[61] It was quite lawful to marry a captive woman whose -relatives had been slain in battle, but not until _three months after -their death_. Mohammed only waited three days in the case of the Jewess -Safia. It was lawful to rob merchants but not pilgrims on their way to -Mecca. Mohammed broke this old law and “revealed a verse” to justify -his conduct. Even in the “Time of Ignorance” it was incest to marry -the wife of an adopted son even after his decease. The prophet Mohammed -fell in love with the lawful wife of his adopted son Zeid, prevailed -on him to divorce her and then married her immediately; for this also -he had a “special revelation.” But Mohammed was not only guilty of -breaking the old Arab laws and coming infinitely short of the law of -Christ, he never even kept the laws of which he claimed to be the -divinely appointed medium and custodian. When Khadijah died he found -his own law, lax as it was, insufficient to restrain his lusts. His -followers were to be content with four lawful wives; he indulged in ten -and entered into negotiations for matrimony with thirty others. - -It is impossible to form a just estimate of the character of Mohammed -unless we know somewhat of his relations with women. This subject -however is of necessity shrouded from a decent contemplation by the -superabounding brutality and filthiness of its character. A recent -writer in a missionary magazine touching on this subject says, “We must -pass the matter over, simply noting that there are depths of filth in -the Prophet’s character which may assort well enough with the depraved -sensuality of the bulk of his followers ... but which are simply -loathsome in the eyes of all over whom Christianity in any measure or -degree has influence.” We have no inclination to lift the veil that -in most English biographies covers the family-life of the prophet of -Arabia. But it is only fair to remark that these love-adventures and -the disgusting details of his married life form a large part of the -“lives of the prophet of God” which are the fireside literature of -educated Moslems. - -Concerning the career of Mohammed after the Hegira, or flight from -Mecca (622 A. D.) a brief summary suffices to show of what spirit -he was. Under his orders and direction the Moslems lay in wait for -caravans and plundered them, the first victories of Islam were the -victories of highwaymen and robbers. Asma, the poetess who assailed the -character of Mohammed, was foully murdered in her sleep by Omeir, and -Mohammed praised him for the deed. Similarly Abu Afik, the Jew, was -killed at the request of Mohammed. The story of the massacre of the -Jewish captives is a dark stain also on the character of the prophet -whose mouth ever spoke of “the Merciful and Compassionate.” After the -victory, trenches were dug across the market-place and one by one the -male-captives were beheaded on the brink of the trench and cast in it. -The butchery lasted all day and it needed torch-light to finish it. -After dark Mohammed solaced himself with Rihana a Jewish captive girl, -who refused marriage and Islam, but became his bond-slave. It is no -wonder that shortly after, Zeinab, who had lost her father and brother -in battle, tried to avenge her race by attempting to poison Mohammed. - -In the seventh year of the Hegira Mohammed went to Mecca and instituted -for all time the Moslem pilgrimage. The following year he again set -out for Mecca at the head of an army of 10,000 men and took the city -without a battle. Other expeditions followed and up to the day, almost -the hour, of his death the prophet was planning conquests by the sword. -It is a bloody story from the year of the Hegira until the close of -the Caliphates. He who reads it in Muir’s volumes cannot but feel the -sad contrast between the early days of Islam and the early days of -Christianity. The germ of all _sword-conquest_ must be sought in the -life and book of Mohammed. Both consecrate butchery in the service of -Allah. The successors of Mohammed were not less unmerciful than was the -prophet himself. - -Thus far we have considered Mohammed from a critical standpoint and -have written facts. But the Mohammed of history and the Mohammed of the -present day Moslem biographers are two different persons. Even in the -Koran, Mohammed is human and liable to error. Tradition has changed -all that. He is now sinless and almost divine. The two hundred and -one names given him by pious believers proclaim his apotheosis. He -is called Light of God, Peace of the World, Glory of the Ages, First -of all Creatures and names yet more lofty and blasphemous. He is at -once the sealer and concealor of all former prophets and revelations. -They have not only been succeeded but also supplanted by Mohammed. No -Moslem prays _to_ him, but every Moslem daily prays for him in endless -repetition. He is the only powerful intercessor on the day of judgment. -Every detail of his early life is surrounded with fantastical miracles -and marvels to prove his divine commission. Even the evil in his life -is attributed to divine permission or command and so the very signs of -his character are his endless glory and his sign of superiority. God -favored him above all creatures. He dwells in the highest heaven and -is several degrees above Jesus in honor and station. His name is never -uttered or written without the addition of a prayer. “Ya Mohammed” is -the open sesame to every door of difficulty, temporal or spiritual. -One hears that name in the bazaar and in the street, in the mosque -and from the minaret. Sailors sing it while raising their sails; -_hammals_ groan it to raise a burden; the beggar howls it to obtain -alms; it is the Bedouin’s cry in attacking a caravan; it hushes babies -to sleep as a cradle song; it is the pillow of the sick and the last -word of the dying, it is written on the door-posts and in their hearts -as well as since eternity on the throne of God, it is to the devout -Moslem the name above every name; grammarians can tell you how its -four letters are representative of all the sciences and mysteries by -their wonderful combination. The name of Mohammed is the best to give -a child and the best to swear by for an end of all dispute in a close -bargain. The exceeding honor given to Mohammed’s name by his followers -is only _one_ indication of the place their prophet occupies in their -system and holds in their hearts. From the fullness of the heart the -mouth speaketh. Mohammed holds the keys of heaven and hell. No Moslem, -however bad his character, will perish finally; no unbeliever, however -good his life, can be saved except through Mohammed. One has only to -question the Moslem masses or read a single volume of the traditions to -prove these statements. - -Islam denies a mediator and an incarnation but the “Story of the Jew” -and similar tales put Mohammed in the place of a mediator without an -incarnation, without an atonement, without holiness. Our Analysis of -the Moslem creed shows how all the later teaching which so exalted -Mohammed was present in the germ. “_La ilaha illa Allah_” is the -theology, “_Mohammed er rasool Allah_,” the complete Soteriology of -Islam. The logical necessity of a perfect mediator was at the basis of -the _doctrine of Tradition_. Islam has, it claims, a perfect revelation -in the letter of the Koran; and a perfect example in the life of -Mohammed. The stream has not risen higher than its sources. - -THE BOOK OF ISLAM. When Mohammed Webb the latest American champion of -Islam spoke at the Chicago Parliament of religions in praise of the -Koran and its teaching, Rev. George E. Post, M. D., of Beirut deemed -it a sufficient reply to let the book speak for itself. He said: “I -hold in my hand a book which is never touched by 200,000,000 of the -human race with unwashen hands, a book which is never carried below -the waist, a book which is never laid upon the floor, a book every -word of which to these 200,000,000 of the human race is considered the -direct word of God which came down from heaven. I propose without note -or comment to read to you a few words from the sacred book and you may -make your own comments upon them afterward.” After quoting several -verses to show that Mohammed preached a religion of the sword and of -polygamy, he added: “There is one chapter which I dare not stand before -you, my sisters, mothers and daughters, and read to you. I have not the -face to read it; nor would I like to read it even in a congregation of -men. It is the sixty-fourth chapter of the Koran.” - -What sort of a book is this revelation of Mohammed of which parts are -unfit to read before a Christian audience and which yet is too holy to -be touched by other than Moslem hands? A book which the orthodox Moslem -believes to be uncreated and eternal, all-embracing and all-surpassing, -miraculous in its origin and contents. A book concerning which Mohammed -himself has said, “If the Koran were wrapped in a skin and thrown -into the fire it would not burn.” Goethe described it thus: “However -often we turn to it, at first disgusting us each time afresh it soon -attracts, astounds, and in the end enforces our reverence. Its style in -accordance with its contents and aim is stern, grand, terrible—and ever -and anon truly sublime. Thus this book will go on exercising through -all ages a most potent influence.” And Nöldeke writes, “if it were not -for the exquisite flexibility and vigor of the Arabic language itself, -which, however is to be attributed more to the age in which the author -lived than to his individuality, it would scarcely be bearable to read -the later portions of the Koran a second time.” Goethe read only the -translation; and Nöldeke was master of the original. It is as hopeless -to arrive at a unanimous verdict regarding the Koran as it is to reach -an agreement regarding Mohammed. - -The book has fifty-five noble titles on the lips of its people but is -generally called _the Koran_ or “The Reading.” It has one hundred and -fourteen chapters, some of which are as long as the book of Genesis and -others consisting of two or three sentences only. The whole book is -smaller than the New Testament, has no chronological order whatever and -is without logical sequence or climax. What strikes the reader first -of all is its jumbled character; every sort of fact and fancy, law and -legend is thrown together piecemeal. The four proposed chronological -arrangements, by Jorlal-ud-Din, Muir, Rodwell and Nöldeke are in utter -disagreement. Only two of Mohammed’s contemporaries are mentioned in -the entire book and his own name occurs only five times. The book -is unintelligible to the average Moslem without a commentary, and I -defy any one else to lead it through, without the aid of notes, and -understand a single chapter or even section. - -We will not stop to consider the fabulous account which Moslems give -of the origin of the Koran and how the various chapters were revealed. -Although Moslems claim that the book was eternally perfect in form -and preserved in heaven, they are compelled to admit that it was -revealed piecemeal and at various times and places by Mohammed to his -followers. It was recorded in writing, after the rude Arab fashion, -“on palm-leaves and sheep-bones and white stones” to some extent; but -for the most part was preserved orally by constant repetition. Omar -suggested to Abu-Bekr after the battle of Yemama that since many of -the Koran reciters were slain, it would be the part of wisdom to put -the book of God in permanent form. The task was committed to Zaid, the -chief amanuensis of Mohammed and the resulting volume was entrusted to -the care of Hafsa, one of the widows of the prophet. Ten years later -a recension of the Koran was ordered by the Caliph Othman and all -previous copies were called in and burned. This recension of Othman, -sent to all the chief cities of the Moslem world, has been faithfully -handed down to the present. “No other book in the world has remained -twelve centuries with so pure a text.” (Hughes.) The present variations -in editions of the Arabic Koran are numerous but none of them are, in -any sense important. The present Koran is the same book that Mohammed -professed to have received from God. Out of its own mouth will we judge -the book; and we cannot judge the book without judging the prophet. - -We will speak later of the poetical beauties of the Koran and of its -literary character. We do not deny also that there are in the Koran -certain moral beauties, such as its deep and fervent trust in the one -God, its lofty descriptions of His Almighty power and omnipresence, and -its sententious wisdom. The first chapter and the verse of the throne -are examples. - - - “In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. - Praise be to God, Lord of all the worlds! - The Compassionate, the Merciful! - King on the Day of Judgment! - Thee do we worship, and to Thee do we cry for help! - Guide Thou us on the right path! - The path of those to whom Thou art gracious! - Not of those with whom Thou art angered, nor of those who go astray.” - - “God! there is no God but He; the living, the Eternal - Slumber doth not overtake Him, neither sleep. - To Him belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on the earth. - The preservation of both is no weariness unto Him. - He is the high, the mighty.” - -The great bulk of the Koran is either legislative or legendary; the -book consists of laws and stories. The former relate entirely to -subjects which engrossed the Arabs of Mohammed’s day—the laws of -inheritance, the relation of the sexes, the law of retaliation, etc—and -this part of the book has a local character. The stories on the other -hand go back to Adam and the patriarchs, take in several unknown -Arabian prophets or leaders, centre around Jesus Christ, Moses and -Solomon and do not venture beyond Jewish territory except to mention -Alexander the Great and Lukman (Æsop). - -From the analytical tables it is not very difficult to see whence the -material for the Koran was selected. Rabbi Geiger’s book, recently -translated into English, will satisfy any reader that Hughes is -nearly right when he says, “Mohammedanism is simply Talmudic Judaism -adapted to Arabia plus the apostleship of Jesus and Mohammed.” But it -is _Talmudic_ Judaism and not the Judaism of the Old Testament. For -the Koran is remarkable most of all not because of its contents but -because of its omissions. Not because of what it reveals but for what -it _conceals_ of “former revelations.” The defects of its teaching are -many. It is full of historical errors and blunders. It has monstrous -fables. It teaches a false cosmogony. It is full of superstitions. It -perpetuates slavery, polygamy, religious intolerance, the seclusion -and degradation of woman and petrifies social life. But all this is of -minor importance compared with the fact that the Koran professing to -be a _revelation_ from God does not teach the way to reconciliation -with God and seems to ignore the first and great barrier to such -reconciliation, viz: SIN. Of this the Old and New Testaments are always -speaking. Sin and salvation are the subject of which the _Torah_ and -the _Zaboor_ and the _Injil_ (Law Prophets and Psalms) are full. The -Koran is silent or if not absolutely silent, keeps this great question -ever in the background.[62] - -It is a commonplace of theology that “to form erroneous conceptions -of sin is to fall into still graver errors regarding the way of -salvation.” Mohammed, as is evident from his whole life, had no deep -conviction of sin in himself; he was full of self-righteousness. His -ideas, too, of God, were _physical_, not _moral_; he saw God’s power, -but never had a glimpse of His holiness. And so we find that there is -an inward unity binding together the prophet and his book as to their -real character in the light of the gospel. With _such_ ideas of God, -_such_ a prophet and _such_ a book, it is easy to understand why the -Mohammedan world became what it is to-day. These bare outlines of the -system of Islam are all that are necessary to indicate its nature and -genus. Allah’s character as the revealer, Mohammed’s character as the -channel of the revelation, and the revelation itself, show us Islam in -its cradle. - - - - - XIX - - THE WAHABI RULERS AND REFORMERS - - “Nothing is so easy to appreciate as true Christian commerce. It - is a speaking argument, even to the lowest savage, for a gospel of - truth and love, and yet more to the races sophisticated by a false - civilization.”—_Principal Cairns._ - - -The history of the Arabian Peninsula has never yet been written. -Many books describe certain periods of its history from the time of -the earlier Arabian rulers, but there is no volume that tells the -story from the beginning in a way worthy of the subject. It would be -interesting to search out the earliest records and trace the Himyarite -dynasties to their origin; to learn the story of the Jewish immigrants -who settled in Medina, Mecca and Yemen even before the Christian Era; -to follow the Arabs in their conquests under the banner of the prophet; -to watch the sudden rise of the Carmathians and follow them in their -career of destruction; to search the old libraries and rediscover the -romantic story of the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English in Arabian -waters;—but our space limits us to the story of the past century.[63] - -To understand the present political conditions and recent history of -Arabia, we must go back to the year 1765, which marks the rise of -the remarkable Wahabi movement, which was at the bottom of all the -political changes that the Peninsula has seen since that time. This -movement was the renaissance of Islam, even though it ended in apparent -disaster, and was politically a splendid fiasco. The Wahabi reform -attracted the attention of Turkey to Arabia; its influence was felt in -India to the extent of declaring a _jihad_ or religious war against -the government, and compelled England to study the situation and send -representatives to the very heart of Arabia. - -Beginning with the Wahabi dynasty, the history of the past century in -Arabia centres in the rulers of Nejd and Oman, the Turkish conquests -and the English influence and occupation. The strong independent -government of Nejd under Ibn Rashid and his successor, Abd-ul-Aziz, -would have been an impossibility except for the result of the Wahabi -movement, in demonstrating the weakness of Turkish rule. And it was for -fear of the Wahabi aggressions that Turkey strengthened her Arabian -possessions and invaded Hassa. - -Mohammed bin Abd-ul-Wahab was born at Ayinah in Nejd, in 1691. -Carefully instructed by his father in the tenets of Islam according -to the school of Hambali, the strictest of the four great sects.[64] -Abd-ul-Wahab visited the schools of Mecca, Busrah and Bagdad, to -increase his learning. At Medina, too, he absorbed the deepest -learning of the Moslem divines and soaked himself in the “six correct -books” of traditions. In his travels he had observed the laxity of -faith and practice which had crept in, especially among the Turks -and the Arabs of the large cities. He tried to distinguish between -the essential elements of Islam and its later additions, some of -which seemed to him to savor of gross idolatry and worldliness. What -most offended the rigid monotheism of his philosophy was the almost -universal visitation of shrines, invocation of saints and honor paid -to the tomb of Mohammed. The use of the rosary, of jewels, silk, gold, -silver, wine and tobacco, were all abominations to be eschewed. These -were indications of the great need for reform. The earlier teaching -of the companions of the prophet had been set aside or overlaid by -later teaching. Even the four orthodox schools had departed from the -pure faith by allowing pilgrimage to Medina, by multiplying festivals -and philosophizing about the nature of Allah. Therefore it was that -Abd-ul-Wahab preached reform not only, but proclaimed himself the -leader of a new sect. His teaching was based on the Koran and the early -traditions. - -This movement is chiefly distinguished from the orthodox system in the -following particulars: - - 1. The Wahabis reject _Ijma_ or the agreement of later interpreters. - - 2. They offer no prayers to prophet, wali, or saint, nor visit their - tombs for that purpose. - - 3. They say Mohammed is _not yet_ an intercessor; although at the last - day he will be. - - 4. They forbid women to visit the graves of the dead. - - 5. They allow only four festivals, _Fitr_, _Azha_, _’Ashura_ and - _Lailat El Mobarek_. - - 6. They do not celebrate Mohammed’s birth. - - 7. They use their knuckles for prayer-counting, and not rosaries. - - 8. They strictly forbid the use of silk, gold, silver ornaments, - tobacco, music, opium, and every luxury of the Orient, except perfume - and women. - - 9. They have anthropomorphic ideas of God by strictly literal - interpretation of the Koran texts about “His hand,” “sitting,” etc. - - 10. They believe _jihad_ or religious war, is not out of date, but - incumbent on the believer. - - 11. They condemn minarets, tombstones, and everything that was not in - use during the first years of Islam. - -There is no doubt that Abd-ul-Wahab honestly tried to bring about -a reform and that in many of the points enumerated his reform was -strictly a return to primitive Islam. But it was too radical to last. -It took no count of modern civilization and the ten centuries that had -modified the very character of the Arabs of the towns not to speak -of those outside of Arabia. Yet the preaching of the Reformer found -willing ears in the isolation of the desert. As in the days of Omar, -the promise of reform in religion was made attractive by the promise -of rich booty to those who fought in the path of God and destroyed -creature-worshippers. Mohammed Abd-ul-Wahab was the preacher, but -to propagate his doctrine he needed a sword. Mohammed bin Saud, of -Deraiyah, supplied the latter factor and the two Mohammeds, allied by -marriage and a common ambition, began to make converts and conquests. -The son of Bin Saud, Abd-ul-Aziz, was the Omar of the new movement, -and his son Saud even surpassed the father in military prowess and -successful conquest. Abd-ul-Aziz was murdered by a Persian fanatic -while prostrate in prayer in the mosque at Deraiyah, in 1803. Saud -at this very time was pushing the Wahabi conquest to the very gates -of Mecca. On the 27th of April, 1803, he carried his banner into the -court of the Kaaba and began to cleanse the holy place. Piles of pipes, -tobacco, silks, rosaries and amulets were collected into one great -heap and set on fire by the infuriated enthusiasts. No excesses were -committed against the people except that religion was forced upon -them. The mosques were filled by public “whips” who used their leather -thongs without mercy on all the lazy or negligent. Everybody, for a -marvel, prayed five times a day. The result of his victory at Mecca -was communicated by the dauntless Saud in the following naïve letter -addressed to the Sultan of Turkey: - - “SAUD TO SALIM—I entered Mecca on the fourth day of Moharram in the - 1218th year of the Hegira. I kept peace toward the inhabitants. I - destroyed all things that were idolatrously worshipped. I abolished - all taxes except those that were required by the law. I confirmed the - Kadhi whom you had appointed agreeably to the commands of the prophet - of God. I desire that you will give orders to the rulers of Damascus - and Cairo not to come up to the sacred city with the _Mahmal_[65] and - with trumpets and drums. Religion is not profited by these things. May - the peace and blessing of God be with you.” - -The absence of long salutations and the usual phrases of honor is -characteristic of all Wahabi correspondence. In this respect it is a -great improvement on the excessive lavishment of titles and honors so -usual among Moslems, especially among the Persians and the Turks. - -Before the close of the year Saud avenged his father’s death by -attacking Medina and destroying the gilded dome that covered the -prophet’s tomb. As early as 1801 parties of plundering Wahabis had -sacked the tomb of Hussein and carried off rich booty from the sacred -city of Kerbela. According to the official inventory this booty -consisted of vases, carpets, jewels, weapons innumerable; also, 500 -gilded copper-plates from the dome, 4,000 cashmire shawls, 6,000 -Spanish doubloons, 350,000 Venetian coins of silver, 400,000 Dutch -ducats, 250,000 Spanish dollars and a large number of Abyssinian slaves -belonging to the mosque.[66] Their raids and conquests extended in -every direction so that in a few years the Wahabi power was supreme in -the greater part of Arabia. - -A single illustration will show the great Saud’s[67] prudence and -celerity in action. When he invaded the Hauran plains, in 1810, -although it was thirty-five days’ journey from his capital, yet the -news of his approach only preceded his arrival by two days, nor was it -known what part of Syria he planned to attack, and thirty-five villages -of Hauran were sacked before the Pasha of Damascus could make any -demonstrations for defence! - -Meanwhile the Sublime Porte remained inactive and nothing was done to -regain the sacred territories. It was deemed impossible to reach Mecca -from Damascus with any large body of soldiers through hostile territory -where supplies were scarce. Salvation was expected from Egypt; and it -was hoped that an expedition by sea might succeed in taking Jiddah and -thence advance upon Mecca. Mohammed Ali began preparations in 1810, and -in the summer of 1811 an expedition under his son Touson Pasha was sent -out from Suez. In October the fleet arrived at Yenbo and the troops -took the town. Ghaleb the Sherif of Mecca proved false to the Wahabis -and made negotiations with the Turkish commander to hand over the -town. In January the army occupied Medina but at Bedr the troops were -attacked by Wahabis and utterly routed. - -All through this first campaign the cruelty and treachery of the Turks -was shocking even to the mind of their Bedouin allies. None of their -promises were kept; the skulls of the enemy slain were constructed -into a sort of tower near Medina; Ghalib, the Sherif, was betrayed and -in violation of the most sacred promises he was taken prisoner and -deported; wholesale butchery of the wounded and mutilation of the slain -were common. - -A second army under Mustafa Bey advanced toward Mecca and also took -possession of Taif. Although the five cities of the Hejaz were now in -the hands of the Turks the Wahabi power was not yet broken. Mohammed -Ali Pasha himself proceeded from Egypt with another army; he had great -difficulty in securing transportation and provisions. Finally he landed -his troops at Jiddah and went on to Mecca, planning to attack Taraba -the great Wahabi centre of the south, as Deraiyah was the capital -of the north. Here the enemy had gathered in great numbers under an -Amazon leader, a widow named Ghalye who ruled the Begoum Arabs. She was -reported to be a sorceress among the Turks and stories of her skill and -courage inspired them with fear. When the attack was made the Wahabis -came off victorious and so harassed the army of occupation that during -1813 and the beginning of 1814 they remained perfectly inactive. Later -the Turks made a sea attack on Gunfida, the port south of Jiddah, and -captured it. The Wahabis however captured the wells that supplied the -town, made a sortie and the Turkish troops fled panic-stricken, to -their ships. Discontentment arose among the Turkish troops. Supplies -failed and wages were in arrears. Mohammed Ali changed now his tactics -and tried to bribe the Bedouin chiefs to desert the Wahabi leaders. At -this time the Turkish army consisted of nearly 20,000 men and yet the -campaign dragged on without a definite victory.[68] - -The greatest battle was fought at Bissel near Taif where Mohammed Ali -defeated the Wahabis with great slaughter. Six dollars were offered -for every Wahabi head and before the day ended 5,000 bloody heads -were piled up before the Pasha. About 300 prisoners were taken and -offered quarter. But on reaching Mecca the cruel commander impaled -fifty of them before the gates of the city; twelve suffered a like -horrible death at every one of the ten coffee-houses, halting places -between Mecca and Jiddah; the remainder were killed at Jiddah and their -carcasses left to dogs and vultures. - -But the battle went against the Turks when they met the desert and its -terrors. Hunger, thirst, fevers and the Bedouin robbers attacked the -camp. In one day a hundred horses died; the soldiers were dissatisfied -and deserted. At length Mohammed Ali made proposals of peace to -Abdullah bin Saud the Wahabi chief, and when Saud entered Kasim with -an army the negotiations were concluded and peace was declared. But -peace was not kept, and Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Mohammed Pasha was -despatched with a large expedition against the Wahabis in August, 1816. - -While Egypt was attacking the Wahabi strongholds from the west, with -infinite trouble and dubious results, the greatest loss the Wahabi -government had yet suffered, was from a blow dealt by the British. -In 1809 an English expedition went from Bombay against the piratical -inhabitants of their chief castle and harbor, Ras-el-Kheimah. The -place was bombarded and laid in ashes. - -Ibrahim Pasha accomplished by intrigue and bribery what his father -failed to do by force of arms. After a series of advances one tribe -after another was detached from the Wahabi government. At last without -a battle the capital Deraiyah was taken, Abdullah captured, sent to -Constantinople and there publicly executed on December 18th, 1818. - -The Turks were naturally jubilant over their success and thought -they had made an end of the hated Wahabis. They soon learned their -mistake. No sooner was the army of Ibrahim Pasha withdrawn than the -old spirit rehabilitated the fallen empire with the old time strength -of fanaticism. The army of the Pashas could not govern or even occupy -the vast territories they had overrun. Within a few years Turki the -son of the late Amir was proclaimed Sultan of Nejd, recovered all and -more than his father’s territories, and by the judicious payment of a -small tribute and yet smaller honor to the Egyptian Khedive retained -the throne until he was murdered in 1831. His son and successor, -Feysul, took the reins of government and was rash enough to repudiate -the Egyptian Suzerainty. Nejd was again invaded. Hofhoof and Katif were -temporarily occupied by Egyptian and Turkish troops and Feysul was -banished to Egypt.[69] - -Feysul died in 1865, having returned from his banishment in 1843 and -ruling alone and supreme for all those years. His son Abdullah, who had -acted as regent during the later years of Feysul, succeeded to the -throne. But there was a rival in his brother Saud. Intrigues, treasons -and violence were hatching in the palace courts even before the death -of Feysul. The dagger and the coffee-cup of poisoned beverage have -always been favorite weapons in seating and unseating the rulers of -Arabia. A prolonged fight ensued between the two brothers. Saud was at -first successful but Abdullah flying to Turkey invited the aid of that -power with the result that an expedition from Bagdad ended in formally -and permanently occupying El Hassa as a Turkish province. - -At the time of Saud’s death, in 1874, the conflict was renewed, but -Abdullah ultimately regained the supremacy and was ruler at Riad until -1886, when events occurred that heralded the rise of another power in -Nejd, based on political intrigue and the sword rather than on religion -and fanaticism. - -When Turki the Amir was murdered by his own cousin, Meshari, and Feysul -succeeded to the throne, there was present at Riad in the army an -obscure youth from Hail, Abdullah bin Rashid. He it was who entered -the palace by stealth, stabbed Meshari, and helped to restore Feysul -to his father’s seat as ruler. His valor and loyalty were rewarded -by bestowing upon him the governorship of his own native province -Shammar; he was also granted a small army to strengthen the Wahabi -rule in that region. He soon became almost as strong as his master and -showed himself an expert in all the intrigue and skill possible to the -Arabs. He extended his personal influence on all sides, built a massive -palace at Hail and defeated all who plotted his destruction. Hired -assassins dogged him on the streets, but Abdullah escaped every danger -and his star remained in the ascendant. In 1844 he died suddenly, -leaving unaccomplished ambitions and three sons, Telal, Mitaab, and -Mohammed. Telal, the eldest son, was proclaimed ruler and was ever more -popular than his father had been, and no less successful as a ruler. -He strengthened his capital, invited merchants from Busrah and Bagdad -to reside there, and gradually but surely established his entire -independence of the Wahabi ruler at Riad. Tormented, however, by an -internal malady he shot himself in 1867. His younger brother, Mitaab, -who succeeded, ruled very briefly and was murdered by his nephews, the -sons of Telal, within a year. Meanwhile, the third son of Abdullah -bin Rashid, Mohammed, had been a refugee at the Riad capital. But -his ambitions now found their opportunity and his true character was -revealed. By permission of the Amir Abdullah bin Feysul he went back to -Hail. He commenced by stabbing his nephew Bander who had usurped the -throne; he then killed the five remaining children of his brother Telal -and became undisputed Amir at Hail in 1868. During the next eighteen -years he consolidated his authority. His rule was after the Arab -heart—with a rod of iron and lavish hospitality; continual executions -and continual feasting. - -The Arabs at Bahrein tell many almost incredible tales of Mohammed bin -Rashid’s stern justice and speedy method of executing it, as well of -his cruelty to those who resisted his will. In those days the public -executioner’s sword was always wet with blood; men were tied to camels -and torn asunder; but the desert-roads were everywhere safe and robbers -met with no mercy. As an indication of his wealth and hospitality -it is related that he constructed in the courtyard of his palace a -stone-cistern of great size always kept filled with that best of -Bedouin dainties, clarified butter (_dihn_). A bucket and rope were at -hand and oil was dealt out as freely as water to the honored guests of -the great ruler. - -In the year 1886 the long-looked for opportunity came for Mohammed -bin Rashid to complete the work of Telal. He not only aspired to be -independent of the Riad rulers but to make Riad, the Saud dynasty -and all the Wahabi state a dependency of his Nejd kingdom. In that -year Amir Abdullah bin Feysul was seized and imprisoned by two of his -nephews, one of whom usurped the throne. Mohammed, as a loyal subject, -marched to the rescue, deposed the pretender, but carried the Amir -himself to Hail, leaving a younger brother as his deputy governor. The -great empire of the Sauds was virtually ended; henceforth it was the -green and purple banner of Rashid and not the red and white standard of -the Wahabis that ruled all central Arabia. - -Mohammed bin Rashid had shown supreme diplomatic ability in all his -dealings with the Turks from the day of his power until his death. He -humored their vanity by professing himself an ally of the Porte; he -paid a small annual tribute to the Sherif of Mecca in recognition of -the Sultan. But for the rest he never loved the Turk except at a good -distance. None of the Arabs of the interior have forgotten the perfidy, -treachery and more than Arab cruelty of the Egyptian Pashas in their -campaigns. - -In 1890 a final attempt was made by the partisans of the old dynasty -to rebel against the Amir and secure the independence of Riad. It was -fruitless; and the severe defeat of the rebels proved it final. In the -year 1897 Mohammed bin Rashid died and his successor Abd-el-Aziz bin -Mitaab now rules his vast dominions. He is less stern but not less able -than his illustrious predecessor. - - - - - XX - - THE RULERS OF OMAN - - -Before we turn to the history of the Turks in Arabia a word is -necessary regarding the rulers of Oman—that province unique in Arabia -for its isolation from all the other provinces in the matter of -politics. Prior to the appearance of the Portuguese in the Persian -Gulf (1506) Oman had been governed for nine hundred successive years -by independent rulers called Imams; elected by popular choice and not -according to family descent. From that time until 1650 the Portuguese -remained in power at Muscat. In 1741 Ahmed bin Said, a man of humble -origin, a camel-driver, rose by his bravery to be governor of Sohar, -drove the Persians who had succeeded the Portuguese, out of Muscat -and founded the dynasty that has ever since ruled Oman. As early as -1798 the East India Company made a treaty with the Sultan of Muscat -to exclude the French from Oman. This fact is important to show the -character of the recent incident at Muscat. - -Seyid Said, who ruled from 1804 to 1856, had constant struggles against -the Wahabi power who threatened his territory. With England he joined -the war against the Wahabi pirates; and made treaties in 1822, 1840 and -1845 to suppress the slave-trade. On the death of Said the Sultanate of -Oman and Zanzibar was divided. Seyid Thowani reigned at Muscat while a -younger brother reigned at Zanzibar. Thowani was assassinated at Sohar -in 1866. Salim, his son, succeeded him, although he was suspected of -patricide. Then there was an interregnum under a usurper until Seyid -Turki another son of Said took the throne in 1871. Continual rebellion -marked his period of rule. But he was friendly to the English and in -return for the abolition of free traffic of slaves between Africa and -Zanzibar the English government allowed him an annual subsidy of a -little over £6,000 a year. In 1888 the Sultan died and his son, Feysul -bin Turki, succeeded him. His rule was mild, from the palace at Muscat -his influence was not far-reaching; rebellions, inter-tribal wars and -plots of one mountain-chief against another mark all the years of -his reign up to date. In February, 1895, there was a serious Bedouin -uprising in which the Arabs took the town and looted it. The Sultan -himself barely escaped and was for a time a prisoner in his fort while -the town was in the hands of the enemy. The cause of the trouble was a -difference as to the amount of yearly tribute a certain Sheikh Saleh -of Samed should pay the Muscat ruler. From November, 1894, the rebels -collected arms and strengthened their numbers until on February 12th of -the following year they were ready to strike the desired blow. As this -episode was characteristic of all Arab warfare we quote a brief account -of it sent at the time by a resident at Muscat to the Bombay press: - - “On February 12th Abdullah, the leader of his father’s (Sheikh - Saleh’s) troops, with a retinue of perhaps 200 armed Bedouins arrived - at Muscat in a scattered and peaceable manner, and obtained an - audience with the Sultan. A musket salute was fired, and no attack - was thought of. The Sultan presented the leader with a purse of $400 - and a liberal allowance of rice, dates, coffee, and the famous Muscat - “halwa” for the men. The Bedouins although armed were allowed to go - and come as they choose and no attack was feared. Sheikh Abdullah - himself sat for a time in the bazaar and received the salaams of the - people who kissed his hand in respect. When evening came the Sultan - requested the men to encamp outside of the gates, the only means of - entrance and exit through the old Portuguese walls. Although failing - to comply with the request the Bedouins claimed none but peaceful - intentions. At 8 P. M. when according to custom the gates were closed, - perhaps one-half of the Bedouins were within the walls. This was - their Trojan horse. Shortly after midnight the gates were attacked, - the few customary guards being easily overcome, and thrown open to the - large numbers of Bedouins who up to this time had been hiding in a - neighboring mosque. Both the small gate leading to the bazaar and the - larger one to the west of the town were easily taken, and the Bedouins - then advanced to the Sultan’s palace, effected an entrance and rudely - awoke the Sultan and his family from their sleep. Seyyidi Esel after - a courageous struggle of a few minutes, (in which he shot two of the - attacking party,) escaped by a small door opening to the sea and fled - to one of the two forts which command the city as well as the harbor. - His brother escaped to the other. Each of these forts is manned by - a force of perhaps fifty men and has several old twelve pounder - Portuguese guns. - - “The forts opened fire at once upon the palace which the Bedouins now - occupied. The Bedouins took possession of the town closing the gates - and stationing armed men through the bazaar and streets in the early - hours of the 13th of February. - - “A few shops containing muskets and ammunition were opened, and the - contents robbed. The Sultan’s palace was completely looted and all his - personal property either destroyed or sold at any price. On account - of the suddenness of the attack there was but a small number of the - Sultan’s soldiers in readiness. These repaired to the forts and opened - fire upon the Bedouin invaders with both the guns of the foils and - muskets. For three days we were the witnesses of the extraordinary - spectacle of a Sultan bombarding his own palace; no attempt was made - to meet the rebels on the streets. By order of the invading captain - the portion of the town inhabited by British subjects was not entered. - Until Sunday evening things remained about the same. The attack from - the forts was continued day and night. The Bedouins did not answer - the fire but remained in the palace and streets holding possessions - but making no attack on the forts. Within the town, although it - is in possession of the enemy, all was orderly and quiet. Unarmed - people were allowed to pass to and fro and guards were stationed in - the bazaar to prevent plunder. Reinforcements were expected by both - parties. On Monday morning a body of about 1,000 arrived from the - coast towns in aid of the Sultan. They encamped beneath the fort in - command of the Sultan, and at about 8 A. M. made an attack on the - invaders, which became so serious a danger to the British subjects - that the Political Agent Major J. H. Sadler ordered a cessation of - hostilities at 1 P. M. until 8 P. M. giving the British subjects an - opportunity to sojourn to the sheltered village of Makalla. More - reinforcements to the Sultan’s troops arrived at 6 P. M. and encamped - beneath the fort throwing temporary barricades across the streets - at several advantageous points. The main body of the Bedouins were - waiting to reinforce just outside Matral which village was however - still in the hands of the Sultan. At 8 A. M. on Monday H. M. S. Sphina - arrived from Bushire and at 2 P. M. the R. I. M. S. Lawrence.” - -The British gunboats, contrary to the expectations and fond hopes of the -population of Muscat, did not interfere in the matter. For reasons of -diplomacy they left the Sultan to fight his own battles and when the -rebels were finally persuaded to leave saddled the poor Sultan with -a large bill for the damage incurred by British subjects during the -attack. - -In 1894 a French consulate was established at Muscat; as the French -have no commerce to speak of in this part of the world the object of -the consulate was evidently political. Of the intrigues that resulted, -the alleged sale of a coaling-station to France and the British -attitude toward the matter we will speak later. - - - - - XXI - - THE STORY OF THE TURKS IN ARABIA - - “No one travels in Turkey with his eyes open without seeing that her - government is a curse on mankind. Fears, feuds and fightings make - miserable the councils of her rulers. They are bloodsuckers fastened - on the people throughout her dominions drawing from each and all - the last drop of blood that can be extracted. Turkey skillfully - and systematically represses what Christian nations make it their - business to nurture in all mankind as manhood. In her cities there - are magnificent palaces for her sultans and her favorites. But one - looks in vain through her realm for statues of public benefactors. - There are no halls where her citizens could gather to discuss - policies of government or mutual obligations. Their few newspapers - are emasculated by government censors. Not a book in any language - can cross her borders without permission of public officers, most of - whom are incapable of any intelligent judgment of its contents. Art - is scorned. Education is bound. Freedom is a crime. The tax gatherer - is omnipotent. Law is a farce. Turkey has prisons instead of public - halls for the education of her people. Instruments of torture are the - stimulus to their industries.”—_The Congregationalist_, April 8, 1897. - - -In reviewing the story of the Turks in Arabia, we will begin with -Hejaz, the most important province of Turkey in Arabia, continue with -Yemen, the most populous, and end with the Mesopotamian vilayets which -were her richest possessions. - -It is not generally understood how highly the Sultan values his Arabian -provinces. It is on them and on them alone that he can base his claim -to the title of caliph. The possession of the Holy Cities in the hands -of the Sultan makes him the chief Mohammedan ruler; there his name is -blessed daily in the great mosques; in the eyes of all the pilgrims -from every part of the Moslem world Turkey is the guardian of the -Kaaba. How many thousands of Mohammedans daily in the mosques of India -and Java call for blessings on the head of Abd-ul-Hamid the Caliph who -would never pray for Abd-ul-Hamid the Sultan. - -Mecca, and Hejaz generally, was governed by the early Caliphs until 980 -A. D., when it passed under the rule of the first Sherif, Jaafar.[70] -Under Suleiman the magnificent (1520-1566) the Ottoman Empire reached -the zenith of its power and greatness; at that time Arabia too was -reckoned a Turkish possession, and the entire peninsula was included on -the maps of Turkish Asia. But, as we have seen, at the beginning of the -present century the Wahabis and not the Turks were the real rulers of -Arabia. The Arabs have never taken kindly to the rule of the Turk, but -the province of Hejaz, once snatched from the hand of the Wahabis, has -ever since been held by the Sublime Porte. Plots of rebellion have been -thick and Sherifs have succeeded Sherifs but the fort that frowns over -Mecca has always a strong Turkish garrison and the Pashas eat the fat -of the land at the expense of the people. - -Actual Turkish rule was declared over the whole of Hejaz in 1840. At -that time Abd-el-Mutalib was made Great Sherif of Mecca, but there was -continual trouble between the Sherif and the Pasha. The religious head -of the holy city would not bow to the political head; the anti-slave -trade regulations although only very slightly enforced caused riots. -The Sherif was deposed and Mohammed bin ’Aun declared ruler in his -place. On June 15th, 1858, the murder of certain Christians at Jiddah -brought England into collision with the rulers of Hejaz. Jiddah was -bombarded and the gate to the holy city was held by the Christian -powers until the required indemnity was paid and the murderers -punished. The next Sherif appointed was Abdullah. During his time the -opening of the Suez Canal brought Turkey much nearer to Mecca and -inspired the religious zealots with the fear that now the Christian -fleets would attack the whole coast of Hejaz! For had not the vizier of -Haroun el Rashid dissuaded that monarch from his plan to dig the canal -lest the gateway to the Holy Cities would then be too accessible to the -infidels? - -The Ottoman government introduced other horrors into the quiet -seclusion of the ancient city of Mecca; Jiddah was connected with the -Red Sea cable; a wire carried the world to Mecca and put the Pasha in -daily touch with the Sublime Porte; afterward it was extended to Taif, -and the Turks were masters of their own army corps, so that the Sherifs -could not act in secret. It was even attempted to raise a Meccan -regiment for the Russian war. - -In 1869 the whole complicated bureaucratic system was introduced at -Medina, Jiddah, Mecca and Taif. Abdullah was a great favorite as -Sherif, both to the Arabs and the Turks; he was mild and given to all -sorts of compromise so that he managed to please both parties which -are always at war in Mecca. His brother Husein succeeded as Sherif but -was murdered in 1880. In the same year the aged Abd-el-Mutalib for the -third time became Sherif and although at first very popular he soon -won the hatred of the conservative Meccans by his cruelty and of the -Turks by his double-dealing. On request of the people of Mecca for his -deposition, Othman Pasha came to Hejaz and although he did not depose -the aged Sherif, managed to outwit him in governing the city. In 1882 -Aun-er-Rafik, a brother of Husein, became Sherif. Troubles between the -dual powers of government became thick and the Bedouin tribes took the -occasion for a general uprising. Rafik fled to Medina and could not -return until Othman Pasha was deposed. Since then the old struggle -continues. - -The Arabs in Hejaz have no love for the Turks or for any Turkish -ruler; the Bedouin tribes hate the very sight of a red fez and the -town-dweller is ground down with taxation. Aside from militarism there -have been no public improvements in either of the Holy Cities since the -Star and Crescent waved from their forts. The “pantaloon-wearing” Turks -are considered little better than “Christian dogs” by the pious folk of -Mecca. Have they not introduced the abomination of quarantine instead -of the old time simple trust in Allah? Have they not acquiesced to the -residence of Christian consuls at Jiddah? And what is worse, have they -not interfered with the free importation of slaves and the manufacture -of eunuchs for the residents of Mecca? - -The following literal translation of a placard posted everywhere in -Mecca, at the end of the year 1885, may give the best insight into the -relations that exist between the Turk and the Arab in the cradle of -Islam: - - “‘And who does not rule according to the revelation of Allah he is an - infidel.’—_Koran_ v. 48. - - “Be it known to you, ye people of Mecca, that this accursed Wali - intends to introduce Turkish laws into the holy city of Allah, - therefore beware of sloth and awake from sleep. Do not suffer the laws - to be executed for they are only the opening of the door to further - legislation. Our proof is that the Wali Othman Pasha proposed his plan - to divide Mecca into four quarters and to appoint three officers for - each quarter. This plan he laid before the city council and when they - declared it was impossible to do this in Mecca the accursed replied, - Is Mecca better than Constantinople? We will carry the plan through - by force. For this reason, O Meccans, an association has been formed - called the Moslem Club and whoever desires to enter it let him make - inquiries. The object of the association is to assassinate this cursed - Wali and his chief of police. He who cannot join us let him utter his - complaint before Allah in the holy house that the public safety is - endangered while the present ruler lives. And this cursed Wali also - attempts to secure the administration of the annual corn-shipment from - Egypt. And remember also how the accursed butchered the sons of the - Sherif and his slaves and exposed their heads at Mecca. What sort of - deeds are these? More atrocious than those at Zeer. So that whoever - kills this man will enter paradise without rendering an account. The - purpose of dividing the city appointing Sheikhs for each quarter is - nothing else than a pretext for new taxations as the Cursed himself - let out before the council. - “In the name of the - “JEMIAT-EL-ISLAMIYEH.” - -The same people who promised paradise to the murderer of Othman Pasha -rebelled against his successor Safwet Pasha and will rebel as long as -the character of the Meccan remains what it is. Those who dream that -the Turk will make Mecca the centre of their power when Constantinople -falls, know not the condition of affairs among the proud fanatics of -Hejaz who will never allow Mecca to become anything but the city of the -Sherifs. And as for the Bedouin tribes, they blackmail every pilgrim -caravan and draw heavy subsidies from Constantinople to keep the peace. -Jiddah is in decay and the pilgrim-traffic is not as flourishing as it -was a decade ago. Even in Hejaz the days of Ottoman rule are numbered. - -Between Hejaz and Yemen is the region of Asir. Its population has been -celebrated from the earliest times for personal bravery and courage. -Mountain-dwellers they love freedom; belonging to the Zaidee sect they -hate the Sunnites. And these two reasons united made them abominate the -Turks. In order to extend Ottoman power southward and reconquer Yemen -for the Sublime Porte it was necessary to pass through the territory -of the Asir Arabs. From 1824 to 1827 the Turkish troops carried six -successive campaigns against the brave highlanders but were in every -case repulsed with great loss. In 1833 and 1834 the attempt was again -made; a desperate battle was fought on August 21st of the latter -year, the Turkish troops were victorious. But the Arabs rallied, made -sorties on the garrisons, famine reigned, fever killed off many and in -September the Turks again withdrew, defeated. In 1836 a final attempt -was made to conquer Asir; this was with greater loss than ever before. -To this day the entire region between Taiz and Roda (a few miles north -of Sana) is really independent, although marked as Turkish on the maps. -The Ottoman troops are bold to fight the Yemen Arabs to the very gate -of Sana but they grow pale when they hear of an expedition against the -dare-devil Bedouins of Asir who fight with the ferocity of the American -Indian and the boldness of a Scotch Highlander. - -The story of the Turks in Yemen is very modern. In 1630 they were -compelled to evacuate Yemen by the Arabs and they did not set foot in -the capital again until 1873. In 1871 the Imam of Yemen lived his life -in peace, secluded and sensual like an oriental despot in the palace -at Sana. Looked upon by the Arabs as a spiritual Sultan he was great, -but also powerless to hold in check the depredations and robberies of -the many tribes under his nominal sway. Things went from bad to worse. -Trade almost ceased on account of the attacks on the caravans that left -for the coast. The Sana merchants, quiet and respectable Arabs, saw -nothing but ruin before them, and considering solely the benefits that -would accrue to themselves by such a step invited the Turks to take the -place. They did not consult the large agricultural population or the -effect of Turkish rule on the peasantry, otherwise there would have -been an equally cordial invitation to the Turks to stay out of Yemen. - -The Turks needed no urging at this time, when they were strengthening -their hold on Mesopotamia, extending their conquests in Hassa and -trying to obtain the mastery of the Hejaz Bedouins. It fell in most -admirably with their plans, and an expedition set out at once. In -March, 1872, an army under command of Ahmed Mukhtar Pasha reached -Hodeidah. On April 25th the army entered Sana twenty thousand strong -and the city opened its gates without a battle. The conquest of the -country now proceeded; a force was sent to the region of Kaukeban, -north of Sana, another to the southern district of Anes and still -another to Taiz and Mocha. The conquest toward the south was limited -by the presence of England at Aden. For when the Turkish army advanced -to the domain of the independent Sultan of Lahaj who had a treaty -with England, the British Resident at Aden sent a small force of -artillery and cavalry to occupy the Lahaj territory. In consequence of -representations made at the same time by the English government to the -Sublime Porte, the Turkish army withdrew in December, 1873. In 1875 the -tribes bordering the southern boundary of Yemen rebelled against Turkey -but the rebellion was crushed. - -When the army took Sana the Imam was deposed, but on account of his -religious influence over the Arabs was permitted to reside in the city, -receiving a pension on condition that he would exert himself in behalf -of Ottoman rule. This he fulfilled until his death when the birthright -as Imam passed to his relative Ahmed-ed-Din who also was nothing loth -to receive the honor of the Arabs and the money of the Turks. - -Sana received a certain amount of civilization, more prestige and still -more commercial prosperity than in the older days. As for the country -in general it was divided and subdivided into provincial districts -and sub-districts; the peasantry were taxed and taxed again; military -roads were constructed by forced labor. The hill-tribes, who in the -times of the Imam had been left undisturbed in their agriculture and -who boasted an independence of centuries, were now little better than -slaves. Extortion ruined them, they hated the personality of the Turks -whose religion was not as their own; discontent smouldered everywhere -and was ready to burst into a flame. And this discontent was increased -from year to year as the caravan-drivers returned from their long -journeys to Aden and told of the greatest marvel ever heard of—a -righteous government and a place where justice could not be _bought_, -but belonged to every one—even the black skinned ignorant Somali. When -we remember that over 300,000 camels with their drivers enter Aden from -the north every year we can realize how widespread was this news. I can -testify to the world-wide difference between the municipal government -of Aden cantonment and that of the capital of Yemen under the Turks -as I saw it in 1891. When the Turks accused England of fomenting the -recent rebellions in Yemen they were right to the extent that if the -Yemen peasantry had not seen the blessed union of liberty and law at -Aden they would not seek to rise against the Turks. - -In the summer of 1892 a body of 400 Turkish troops were sent to -collect by force the taxes due from the Bni Meruan who inhabit the -coast north of Hodeidah. The Turks were surprised by a large body of -Arabs and nearly annihilated. Wherever the news travelled the people -rose in arms. Tribal banners long laid away were unfurled and the cry -“long live the Imam” rang through mountain and valley. A new Jehad -was proclaimed and Ahmed-ed-Din was unwillingly forced to take the -leadership against the Turks. When the rebellion broke out the Turks -had only about 15,000 men in the whole of Yemen; and cholera had -wrought havoc among these. Ill-fed, ill-clothed, and unpaid; badly -housed in the rainy and cold mountain villages, they could nevertheless -fight like devils when led by their commanders. The Imam escaped from -Sana, and a few days later the capital was besieged by an enormous -force of Arabs. All the unwalled cities fell an easy prey to the -rebels, Menakha was taken after a short struggle; Ibb, Jibleh, Taiz, -and Yerim all declared themselves for the Imam. The Arabs treated their -foes with respect after their victory;[71] they were feeding Turkish -prisoners at the Imam’s expense and in many cases money was given the -soldiers to enable them to escape to Aden. - -Meanwhile telegrams were sent to Constantinople from Sana and Hodeidah -beseeching assistance. The whole of Yemen, with the exception of the -capital and two smaller towns in the north with Hodeidah on the coast, -was in the hands of the rebels. An expedition reached Hodeidah, under -command of Ahmed Feizi Pasha, formerly governor of Mecca, which after -bombarding the villages on the coast north of Hodeidah, marched to the -relief of Sana. Without opposition the army reached Menakha and took -the town by storm; matchlocks and fuse-guns could not hold out against -field-guns and trained troops. About thirty miles beyond a desperate -attempt was made to stop the army of relief; in a narrow defile the -rebels under Seyid es-Sherai took up their position and for twelve days -withstood cavalry, infantry and artillery assaults; then they were -driven back and retired into the mountains. By hurried marches the -troops reached Sana and took the city. Military law was proclaimed and -a universal massacre of prisoners took place. A reward was offered for -the head of every rebel. Camel-loads of heads were brought into Sana -every day. The troops were turned loose to plunder the villages. There -is no nation in the world that can put down a rebellion as rapidly -as the Turks when they have a good-sized army, but they have great -objection to any one seeing the process. - -By the end of January, 1893, all the cities of Yemen were reconquered -and the main roads were again open. But the spirit of rebellion lived -on and the brave mountaineers withdrew to the inaccessible defiles and -peaks only to plot further mischief. Telegraph-wires were cut; soldiers -were shot on the road; and once and again bold attempts were made to -blow up the Pasha’s house in Sana with gunpowder. In 1895 there was -rebellion in the north. In 1897-98 all Yemen was again in arms and the -uncertain and conflicting reports that reach the coast only emphasize -the serious character of the uprising. - -On the map and in Turkish official reports the boundaries of Yemen join -those of Hejaz and extend many miles _east_ of Sana. This has never -been and is not now correct. Twenty-five miles north and east of Sana -there is no one who cares for a Turkish passport or dares to collect -Turkish taxes. - -As to the future of Turkey in Yemen it is difficult to surmise. Rather -than risk further rebellions the Sultan may adopt a conciliatory -policy. But Yemen is too far from Constantinople to be governed from -there. Extortion is the only way open to a Pasha to enrich himself and -for soldiers to get daily bread where wages are not paid on time. When -the Pasha has filled his pocket his successor will try it a second time -and come to grief. Rebellion will be the chronic state of Yemen as long -as Turkey rules at Sana. The leopard cannot change his spots. - -We now turn to notice the rule of the Turks in Northeastern Arabia, -and in their newly-acquired province of Hassa. Bagdad was taken by -the Turks in 1638 and that city has ever since been the capital of a -Turkish Province. It is unnecessary to enter here into the succession -of Pashas and rulers and the attempts to subjugate the Bedouin Arabs. -In 1830 the great plague visited all Mesopotamia and when epidemic was -at its height the river burst its banks and in one night 15,000 people -perished. In 1884 the vilayet of Busrah was separated from that of -Bagdad and has since remained under its own governor. The two provinces -have all the machinery of Ottoman rule in working order. Except for an -occasional outbreak among the Montefik Arabs, Turkey has no trouble to -hold Mesopotamia in her grasp. Nor is she at all willing that this rich -province should even dream of passing under other rulers. In the year -1891 the Turkish Official Bulletin gave the total revenue from taxation -in the Bagdad vilayet alone at 246,304 Turkish pounds. - -It may be interesting to note in passing the various sources of -taxation-money. They are in brief: tax on Arab tents, exemption from -military service, tax on sheep, buffaloes, camels, tax on mines (salt), -tax on special privileges, tax on forests and timber, tax on fishing, -custom dues, tax on shipping, on irrigation, on farming improvements; -“receipts from tribunals” (£3,000 tax on justice!) and beside all -this “taxes diverses” and “revenues diverses” to make up the budget. -All this is legal, ordinary taxation. But the actual conditions of -Turkish misrule made it impossible to exercise the inalienable rights -of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” without continual -backsheesh to every official. - -The population of Mesopotamia, Moslem and Jew and Christian are -thoroughly weary of Turkish misrule, but no one dares to lift up a -voice in protest. They have become accustomed to it; and there is -nothing else but to bear it patiently. As for the nomads they have -either, like the Montefik, settled down along the rivers to cultivate -the soil and eke out a miserable existence, or, like the Aneyza and -Shammar tribes, they are as thoroughly independent of the Sultan as -when they first appeared in his borders. - -Turkish Arabia on the north is represented on most maps by a regular -curved line starting from the Persian Gulf and ending at the Gulf -of Akaba; but the line is purely imaginary. Turkish rule does not -extend far south of the banks of the Euphrates, and the whole desert -region from Kerbela to the Dead Sea and the Hauran is practically -independent.[72] Outside of Bagdad and Busrah even the river towns are -frequently threatened by the nomads, and Turkish soldiers have often to -guard the river steamers against pirates. Military rule is in vogue two -hundred years after the occupation of the country, and the nomads are -nomads still. The commander-in-chief of the Sixth Ottoman army corps -resides at Bagdad, and a good number of soldiers occupy the barracks in -the city of the old caliphs. - -In Turkey all Moslems over twenty years of age are liable to military -conscription, and this liability continues for over twenty years. -Non-Moslems pay an annual exemption tax of about six shillings per -head. The army consists of _Nizam_ or regulars, _Redif_ or reserves, -and _Mustahfuz_ or national guard. The infantry are supposed to be all -armed with Martini-Peabody rifles, but in Mesopotamia older patterns -are still in use. The life of a Turkish soldier is not enviable; and -none of them would be volunteers for government service. The Turkish -navy is represented in the Persian Gulf and on the rivers by one or two -third-rate cruisers and a small river gunboat. - -The result of the calling of Turkey into the Wahabi quarrel between -the two sons of Feysul, was the occupation of Katif and Hassa by the -Ottoman government. Since that time (1872) Hassa has been a part of the -Busrah vilayet, and the Pasha, who resides at Hofhoof, has the title -Mutaserif Pasha of Nejd. Continual troubles with the Arabs mark the -history of the occupation of Hassa; the caravan routes are not as safe -as in the dominions of the Amir of Nejd; the whole country shows decay -and lack of government; taxation of the pearl fishers has driven many -of them to Bahrein; the peninsula of Katar is occupied by a garrison, -but that does not prevent continual blood feuds and battles between -the Arab tribes. The Ottoman government has established an overland -post-service between Hofhoof and Busrah as between Bagdad and Damascus, -but both routes are unsafe and slow. Most of the Hofhoof merchants use -the British Post Office at Bahrein; and so do the government officials. - -[Illustration: Flags that rule Arabia.] - - - - - XXII - - BRITISH INFLUENCE IN ARABIA - - “The English, said the old Arab Sheikh in reply, are like ants; if one - finds a bit of meat, a hundred follow.”—_Ainsworth._ - - “Oman may, indeed, be justifiably regarded as a British dependency. - We subsidize its ruler; we dictate its policy; we should tolerate no - alien interference. I have little doubt myself that the time will - come ... when the Union Jack will be seen flying from the castles of - Muscat.” - - “I should regard the concession of a port upon the Persian Gulf to - Russia by any power as a deliberate insult to Great Britain, as a - wanton rupture of the _status quo_ and as an international provocation - to war; and I should impeach the British minister, who was guilty of - acquiescing in such surrender, as a traitor to his country.” - —_Lord Curzon_, Viceroy of India. - - -In sketching the relations of England to the peninsula, we will -consider: Her Arabian possessions and protectorates; her supremacy -in Arabian waters, her commerce with Arabia; her treaties with Arab -tribes; and her consulates and agencies in Arabia. - -Of all British possessions in Arabia, Aden is by far the most -important, on account of its strategic position as the key not only of -all Yemen, but of the Red Sea and all Western Arabia. Aden was visited -as early as 1609 by Captain Sharkey of the East India Company’s ship -“Ascension.” He was at first well received, but afterward imprisoned -until the inhabitants had secured a large ransom. Two of the Englishmen -on board refusing to pay were sent to the Pasha at Sana. In 1610 -an English ship again visited Aden and the crew were treacherously -treated. In 1820, Captain Haines of the Indian navy visited Aden, and -in 1829 the Court of Directors entertained the idea of making Aden -a coaling-station, but the idea was abandoned. In consequence of an -outrage committed on the passengers and crew of a buggalow wrecked -near Aden, an expedition was despatched against the place by the -Bombay government in 1838. It was arranged that the peninsula of Aden -should be ceded to the British. But the negotiations were anything but -friendly, and in January, 1839, a force of 300 Europeans and 400 native -troops in the “Volage” and “Cruizer” bombarded and took the place by -storm. - -This was the first new accession of territory in the reign of Queen -Victoria. Immense sums of money have been spent in fortifying this -natural Gibraltar and in improving its harbor. Four times the Arabs -have attempted to take Aden by land, each time with fearful loss and -without success. By sea Aden is impregnable; only the initiated know -the strength of its mole-batteries, mines, forts and other defences; -and every year new defences are constructed and old ones strengthened. -Aden has become a great centre for trade, and is one of the chief -coaling depots in the world. It bars the further advance of Turkey into -South Arabia, guarantees independence and good government to all the -neighboring petty states, and is an example of good government to all -Arabia and the African coast. The settlement is politically subject -to the Bombay Presidency and is administered by a Resident with two -assistants. Since the opening of the Suez canal, trade has steadily -increased and Turkish custom extortions at Hodeidah direct the caravan -trade more and more to Aden from every part of Yemen. - -The island of Socotra and the Kuria Muria islands are also attached -to Aden, together with the Somali Coast in Africa. Socotra has an -area of 1,382 square miles and about 10,000 inhabitants. It came -under British protection in 1886 by treaty with its Sultan. The Kuria -Muria group was ceded to the British by the Sultan of Muscat, for the -purpose of landing the Red Sea cable; the islands are five in number -and have rich guano deposits. The island of Kamaran is also classed -as belonging to the British Empire.[73] It is a small island in the -Red Sea, some miles north of Hodeidah; it is only fifteen miles long -and five wide, and has seven small fishing-villages. But it has a -good sheltered anchorage and is the quarantine Station for all Moslem -pilgrims from the south to Mecca. - -The Bahrein Islands are also included in the British Empire, although -Turkey still claims them as her own and the native ruler imagines that -he is independent. “The present chief Sheikh Isa owes the possession -of his throne entirely to British protection which was instituted in -1867. Sheikh Isa was again formerly placed under British protection in -1870 when his rivals were deported to India.” The Political Resident -at Bushire superintends the government of the islands to as great an -extent as is deemed diplomatic. - -Perim at the southern end of the Red Sea was taken possession of in -1799 by the East India Company and a force was sent from Bombay to -garrison the island. But it was found untenable at that time as a -military position and the troops were withdrawn. Perim was reoccupied -in the beginning of 1857. The lighthouse was completed in 1861, and -quarters were built for a permanent garrison.[74] - -We may also consider the possessions of Egypt in Arabia as practically -under English protection. Since the British occupation, the peninsula -of Sinai and the Red Sea litoral on the Arabian side, nearly as far as -Yembo is under the Governor-General of the Suez canal. - -England not only possesses the key positions on the coasts of Arabia, -but has for many years held the naval supremacy in all Arabian waters. -As the Dutch succeeded the Portuguese and established trading-stations -in the Persian Gulf and in the Red Sea, so England followed the Dutch. -The East India Company was at Aden and Mocha in the beginning of -the seventeenth century, and in 1754 the English East India Company -established itself at Bunder Rig, north of Bushire, and later at -Bushire itself, supplanting the Dutch. The island of Karak in the north -of the Gulf was twice occupied by the British, in 1838 and in 1853. -After the bombardment of Bushire in 1857 and of Mohammerah in the same -year, hostilities ceased and Karak was again evacuated. The island -of Kishm, in the southern part of the Gulf, was during the greater -part of the present century, a British military or naval station. The -Indian naval squadron had its headquarters first at El Kishm, then at -Deristan and finally for many years at Bassadore. In 1879 because of -the insalubrity of the climate the last company of Sepoys was withdrawn -to India. But the island is still in a sense considered British. As -early as 1622 the Persians and the British expelled the Portuguese from -Ormuz and shortly after, in common with the Dutch and French set up -trading factories at Gombrun, (now Bunder Abbas). In 1738 the English -Company established an agency at Busrah and much of their Gulf business -was shifted to that port. Since 1869 there has been a telegraph station -at Jask with a staff of six English officials; here the land and marine -wires of the Indo-European telegraph meet and join India to the Gulf. - -The Sultanate of Oman, since 1822, has been in the closest relations -possible with British naval power. At several critical periods in Oman -history, it was Great Britain that helped to settle the affairs of -state. In 1861 a British commissioner arbitrated between two claimants -for the rule of Muscat and Zanzibar, then one kingdom, and divided -the Sultanate. Since 1873 the Sultan of Muscat has received an annual -subsidy from the British government. Near Cape Musendum, on the Arabian -side of the Gulf, the British once occupied a place called Malcolm’s -Inlet when they were laying the telegraph cable from Kerachi to the -Gulf in 1864. Five years later it was transferred to Jask. From 1805 -to 1821 there were British naval encounters with the pirates of the -Gulf, and since that date all piracy in these waters has ceased.[75] -British naval supremacy established peace at Bahrein and has protected -its native government since 1847. When in 1867 the native ruler, “a -crafty old fox” as Curzon calls him, broke the treaty, the bombardment -of Menamah brought further proof of British naval supremacy. Kuweit -was for a time (1821-22) the headquarters of the British Resident -at Busrah; and, semi-independent of Turkey, is now becoming wholly -dependent on England—another indication of British naval supremacy. -Even at Fao, Busrah and Bagdad British gunboats often keep the peace -or at least emphasize authority. In a word Great Britain holds the -scales of justice for all the Persian Gulf litoral. She guarantees a -_pax Brittanica_ for commerce, she taught the Arab tribes that rapine -and robbery are not a safe religion; where they once swept the sea with -slave-dhows and pirate-craft they have now settled down to drying fish -and diving for pearls. For the accomplishment of this subject England -has spent much both in treasure and in lifeblood. Witness the graves of -British soldiers and marines in so many Gulf ports. The testimony of an -outsider, is given in a recent article in the _Cologne Gazette_, which -thus describes the political and naval supremacy of England in Eastern -Arabia and the Persian Gulf: - -“A disguised protectorate over Oman and control over the actions of the -Sultan of Muscat; actual protectorate over Bahrein; coaling station on -the island of Kishm, in the Straits of Ormuz; presence of a political -Resident at Bushire who, with the help of an association called the -Trucial League, decides all disputes between Turkish, Arab, and Persian -chiefs in the Persian Gulf.... This league gives the English a constant -pretext for intervention; the object of keeping peace and policing the -gulf is only a pretence.... All events on the Persian Gulf, however -disconnected apparently, are really dependent on each other through -the Trucial League. It is a confused tangle of hatreds and jealousies -whose threads are united in the hands of the Resident at Bushire.... -Russia shows an indifference which is quite incomprehensible -considering the interest she has and must have in these affairs. One -could recount numerous instances where English agents have injured -Russian interests without meeting with any opposition. The Russian -Consul in Bagdad is thrust into the background by the activity of his -British colleague. Southern Persia, the gulf, Eastern Arabia, and -the Land of Oman have fallen completely within the English sphere of -influence. This state of affairs has not been officially ratified, but -exists as a fact. That will last till some movement comes about to -restore the proper balance. Meanwhile, the English are the masters. -They are so accustomed to manage the whole Persian Gulf that if the -least thing occurs that they have not foreseen or themselves arranged -they completely lose all self-control.” - -But the supremacy of England in the Gulf and on the other coasts of -Arabia is hers not only because of gunboats and gunpowder. It is most -of all by the arts of peace that she has established and glorified her -power on the Arabian litoral. It must never be forgotten, for example, -that the magnificent surveys of the entire 4,000 miles of Arabian coast -were the work of British and Indian naval officers; by means of this -survey, completed at great cost, commerce has been aided and navigation -of the dangerous waters east and west of Arabia has been made safe. -England too is the only power that has established lighthouses; _e. -g._, at Aden, Perim, in the Red Sea and lately on Socotra. England laid -the cables that circle Arabia; from India to Bushire and Fao connecting -with the Turkish overland telegraph system; from Aden to Bombay and -from Aden to Suez through the Red Sea. These cables were not the work -of a day but were laid with great expense and opposed by the very -governments they were intended to benefit. - -Again, Arabia has two postal systems and two only. In the Turkish -province of Yemen there is a weekly post between the capital and the -chief towns to the coast; in Hejaz there is a post to Mecca; and in -Mesopotamia and Hasa there is another Turkish postal system notorious -for its slowness and insecurity. For the rest all of Eastern and -Southern Arabia are dependent on the Indian Postal system; the whole -interior is ignorant of a post office or of a postman. The government -of India has post offices at Muscat, Bahrein, Fao, Busrah and Bagdad -with regular mail service, and the best administration in the world. -The English post carries the bulk of the mail between Busrah and -Bagdad while Bahrein is really the post office for all Eastern Arabia; -pearl-merchants at Katar and in Hasa mail their letters at Bahrein and -even the Turkish government needs the English post to communicate with -Busrah from Hasa. - -England has also earned her supremacy in Arabian waters by honest -attempts to put a stop to the slave-trade, in accord with the -Anti-slave Trade treaties between the powers. She is the only power -whose navy has acted in seizing slave-dhows, liberating slaves and -patrolling the coast. The work has not always been done thoroughly or -vigorously, but that it has been done at all, places England first -among the powers that sail in Arabian waters. - -Where the Union Jack proclaims naval supremacy, there the red -mercantile flag of England follows the blue and carries commerce; the -two go together, and although of different color are the same flag -to Englishmen. The world-wide commercial activity of Great Britain -has touched every part of the Arabian coast and British wares from -Manchester and Birmingham have penetrated to every secluded village of -Nejd, and are found in every valley of Yemen. - -The mercantile navigation of the Gulf as it now exists is the creation -of the last thirty years, and is largely to be attributed to the -statesmanship of Sir Bartle Frere. It was he who, when at Calcutta -as a member of Lord Canning’s Supreme Council, befriended the young -Scotchman, William Mackinnon, who was planning a new shipping business -beyond his slender means; and a subsidy was granted to Mackinnon’s new -line of Steamers. Thus it was that the British India Steam Navigation -Company was launched which first opened trade not only with Zanzibar -but in the Persian Gulf. In 1862 not a single mercantile steamer -ploughed the Persian Gulf. A six-weekly service was then started, -followed by a monthly, a fortnightly and finally by a weekly steamer. -From Busrah there are two lines of English steamers direct for London. -The British India was the pioneer line and still holds the first -position, although there are other lines that do coasting trade with -India. - -Thus English commerce controls not only the markets of both sides of -the Gulf, but of all Northwestern Arabia and as far beyond Bagdad -as piece-goods and iron-ware can be carried on camels. There is not -a spool of thread in Nejd or a jack-knife in Jebel-Shammar that did -not come up the Persian Gulf in an English ship. All of Hassa eats -rice from Rangoon and thousands of bags are carried in British ships -to Bahrein to be transported inland by caravan. Not only is the -steamshipping mostly in English hands, but many of the native buggalows -fly the British flag and the chief merchants are Englishmen or British -subjects from India. The Rupee is the standard of value along the whole -Arabian coast from Aden to Busrah. In the interior the Maria Theresa -dollar has long held sway, but even that is becoming scarce among the -Bedouins and they have little preference between the “_abu bint_” -(the Rupee with a girl’s head) and the “_abu tair_” (“the father of a -bird”—the eagle on the Austrian dollar). For a time a French line of -steamers ran in the Gulf but the project was abandoned, though there is -now a rumour of its revival.[76] - -Aden is the commercial centre for all Southern Arabia and the enormous -increase of its trade since 1839 is proof of what English commerce has -done for Yemen. Mocha is dead, and Hodeidah is long since bedridden, -but Aden is alive and only requires a railroad to Sana to become the -commercial capital of all Western and Southern Arabia. That railroad -will be built as soon as the Turk leaves Yemen’s capital; God hasten -the day. After the occupation of Aden in 1839 until the year 1850 -customs dues were levied as in India but at that time it was declared -a free port. During the first seven years the total value of imports -and exports averaged per year about 1,900,000 Rupees, in the next seven -years the annual average rose to 6,000,000 Rupees, and it has been on -the increase ever since, until it now is over 30,000,000 Rupees; nor -did this annual average include the trade by land which is also large. - -The Suez canal is another indication of the prestige which English -commerce has in the Red Sea and along the routes of traffic that circle -Arabia. In 1893 the gross tonnage that passed through the canal was -10,753,798; of this 7,977,728 tons passed under the English flag which -means that nearly four-fifths of the trade is English. In the same year -the number of vessels passing through the canal was 3,341 of which -2,405 belonged to Great Britain. - -The proposed Anglo-Egyptian railway across the north of Arabia will -join the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean. To shorten the time of -communication between England and her Eastern Empire is evidently a -matter of the highest importance, not only for commerce and post, but -in the event of war, mutiny or other great emergency. The first surveys -for this overland railway were made as early as 1850, by the Euphrates -Expedition under General Chesney. The scheme was warmly advocated in -England by Sir W. P. Andrew, the Duke of Sutherland and others, but -although it still awaits execution the plan comes up again every few -years with new advocates and new improvements. Once it was to be the -Euphrates Valley railway coming down to Bagdad and Busrah or to Kuweit -(Grane) by way of Mosul. Now the plan proposed is to open a railway -from Port Said due eastward across the Peninsula along the thirtieth -parallel of latitude to Busrah. A branch would deviate a little to -the south to the port of Kuweit which was also the proposed terminus -of the Euphrates Valley line on which a select committee of the House -of Commons sat twenty-five years ago. From Busrah the main line would -cross the Shatt-el-Arab and the Karun by swing-bridges and follow the -coast-line of the Persian Gulf and Makran to Kerachi. Such a line would -reduce the time occupied in transit between London and Kerachi to eight -days.[77] Whether this route or any other is followed is a matter of -minor importance. The fact that since 1874 England has been to the -front in the matter of the overland railroad puts it beyond a doubt, -that when the railway is built its terminus at least will be under -English control and most probably the whole road will represent English -capital and enterprise. - -Meanwhile there is intelligence that Turkey has made a concession to -German capitalists for the extension of the Anatolian railways to -Bagdad. The line which runs from the Asiatic shores of the Bosphorus -to Angora is in the hands of a German syndicate and the terms of -the concession contain compulsory clauses under which, in certain -eventualities, the Turkish government can compel the syndicate to -extend the road to Sivas and ultimately to Bagdad.[78] But politically -Great Britain has little to fear from the spread of German influence -in the Levant and Mesopotamia. The editor of an influential English -paper says, “Every mark expended by the Germans upon public works in -the Asiatic dominions of the Sultan helps to build up the bulwark -against the menace of Russia. And the creation of a German railway in -Asia Minor will, in a limited degree tend to identify the interests of -Germany and Great Britain.” Nevertheless England would never grant a -terminus or harbor to a German railroad syndicate on the Persian Gulf. - -Great Britain has treaties or agreements of some sort with every tribe -and settlement of Arabs from Aden to Muscat and thence to Bahrein. -England has two kings for Arabia; the first lives at Bushire and is -called the British Resident and Consul General, the other with a -similar title lives at Aden. Of the Bushire Resident Lord Curzon wrote, -“One or more gunboats are at the disposal of the British Resident -at Bushire who has also a despatch boat for his own immediate use -in the event of any emergency. Not a week passes but, by Persians -and Arabs alike, disputes are referred to his arbitration, and he -may with greater truth than the phrase sometimes conveys be entitled -the Uncrowned King of the Persian Gulf.” To the energy and political -capacity of Colonel Ross and his capable predecessor, Sir Lewis Pelly, -this royal throne owes its foundation. All the treaties made by -England with the Arab tribes on the Eastern coast of Arabia are here -interpreted and enforced. - -The treaties made with the chiefs of Bahrein and with the tribes on -the so-called Pirate coast embraces clauses to enforce the maritime -peace of the Gulf, to exclude foreign powers from the possession of -territory, to regulate or abolish the slave-traffic and to put down -piracy. Since 1820 various treaties of truce have been concluded with -the warlike Arabs on the coast south of Katar and have been frequently -renewed or strengthened. In 1853 a Treaty of Perpetual Peace was made -with other tribes[79] which provided that there should be a complete -cessation of hostilities at sea and that all disputes should be -referred to the British Resident. The contracting parties were called -Trucial Chiefs and the treaty is known as the Trucial Arrangement or -League. Beside these treaties the English have an exclusive treaty -with the Sheikh of Bahrein to such a degree, that the islands are -practically a British protectorate. - -Although there are no formal treaties with the tribes along the Hassa -coast and Katar, these being under Turkish rule, that region is not -disregarded by Great Britain, nay Nejd itself finds a place in the -administration reports of the Persian Gulf, Political agency whenever -the horizon in that part of the peninsula shows a storm cloud though it -be no bigger than a man’s hand. The claims of the Porte to sovereignty -over El Katar are not admitted by the British government[80] and are -the cause not only of diplomatic controversy but of actual interference -on the part of the British when necessary. - -The great benefits that have followed the treaties of peace with the -Arab tribes are manifest most of all by a comparison of that part of -the Arabian coast under English supervision and the long stretch from -Katif to Busrah which is Turkish. The former enjoys peace and the -tribes have settled down to commerce and fishing, there is safety for -the traveller and the stranger everywhere; the latter is in continual -state of warfare, there is neither commerce nor agriculture and the -entire coast is utterly unsafe because of the _laissez faire_ policy of -Turkey. - -Turning to Oman we find, in the words of Lord Curzon, that, treaty -succeeding treaty, “it may be justifiably regarded as a British -dependency.” The recent history of Muscat has only hastened the day -when “the Union Jack will be seen flying from the castles of Muscat.” -The Bedouin revolt and their occupation of the town resulted in -saddling the unhappy Sultan with a large bill for damages sustained by -British subjects. The episode of the French coaling-station cost the -Sultan his annual subsidy. Thus from the side of finance he is doubly -dependent on English clemency. - -The second British king of Arabia resides at Aden. There he is at once -Political Resident and commander of the troops. His authority extends -not only to the settlement of Aden proper but includes supervision of a -territory 200 miles long by forty broad with a population of 130,000. -Many of the neighboring tribes are subsidized and all of them are bound -by treaty to Great Britain. What the Bushire Resident is for the Gulf -that the Aden Resident is for the Southern litoral of the Peninsula. -Moreover the Island of Socotra is also under the Resident at Aden -and the Island of Perim. The ruler of Makalla in Hadramaut is under -special treaty with England; although the newspaper report, that Great -Britain had declared a protectorate over all Southern Arabia, has no -foundation.[81] - -In the tribes which are bound by treaty with Britain a patriarchal -system of supervision seems to prevail. Good children are rewarded and -bad ones are punished. Nothing escapes the eye of the political parent; -one has only to read the yearly Administration reports to find many -striking and sometimes amusing examples. We quote from the Residency -Report of Muscat for 1893-94 verbatim: “One case of breach of the -maritime peace of the Gulf occurred in which the Sultan was advised to -inflict a fine of Rs. 50 (about sixteen dollars) on Mehdibin-Ali, the -Sheikh of the Kamazarah tribe of Khassab, for proceeding with a party -of armed men by sea to Shaam with the object of prosecuting a certain -claim his wife had against the estate of her deceased father. After -some months’ delay the attendance of the Sheikh was enforced at Muscat -and the fine was recovered.” The same report tells how the government -of India acknowledged the kindness shown to the shipwrecked crew of the -S. S. Khiva in April, 1893, by the Sultan of Muscat, “by presentation -to His Highness of a handsome telescope and watch.” Every year all the -tribal chiefs who have proved “good boys” receive some yards of bright -flannel, a new rifle or a pair of army pistols. But the patriarchal -system works well; and there are few Arabs who would like English -power in the Gulf or near Aden to grow less; all express admiration -for English _rule_, if not for English politics. In Arabia too the old -promise of Noah is finding its fulfillment to-day. “God shall enlarge -Japhet and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem.” Shem never took a -better guest into his tent than when he signed a treaty of perpetual -peace with England on his coasts. - -England has consulates and consular agents at more places in Arabia -than has any other power and her consuls exercise more authority and -have greater prestige. In nearly every case they were first appointed -and have therefore had longer time to extend their influence. At -Jiddah, Hodeidah, and on the island of Kamaran there are British -consulates or vice-consulates; and there are reports of a consulate -at Sana. At Makalla there is a British agent. Muscat, Bagdad, Busrah, -Bushire and Mohammerah all have consulates, with different degrees -of authority and position, all exercising power of some sort in -Arabia. Bahrein, Lingah, Sharka, Bunder Abbas, and other points in -the Gulf have British agents. At Jiddah, Hodeidah and Aden there are -several consulates beside the English. Muscat has for some years had -an American consul and in 1894 the French established a consulate -there. Russia has no representative in the Gulf save at Bagdad; nor -has Germany. None of the European powers, save England, have agents at -any of the Arabian ports in the Gulf nor do the ships of their navies -often visit this part of the world. In fact so little do the Arabs know -of other consuls than English, that their words for agent, _wakil_, -and for consul, _baljoz_, always signify to them British officers or -appointees. - - - - - XXIII - - PRESENT POLITICS IN ARABIA - - “The signs of the times show plainly enough what is going to happen. - All the savage lands in the world are going to be brought under - subjection to the Christian Governments of Europe. The sooner the - seizure is consummated, the better for the savages.”—_Mark Twain._ - - -While Turkey continues in power the western coast of Arabia will see no -change and everything will be quiet in Hejaz. If however the trouble -between the Sherifs of Mecca and the Sublime Porte should reach a -crisis or Moslem fanaticism at Jiddah should endanger the lives of -Christians, we may expect England, and perhaps France and Holland to -interfere as did England in 1858.[82] Regarding Yemen there is more -probability of a great political change in the near future. Aden is -a cinder-heap, but Sana has a fine, cold climate and is the capital -of a rich mountain region capable of extraordinary development. There -are those who desire to see England assume a protectorate over all -Yemen, and if ever the Arabs should turn out the Turks, England would -be almost compelled to step in and preserve peace for her allied -tribes near Aden. Long since the army at Aden has felt the need of a -hill-station and only the Crescent keeps the English troops penned up -in an extinct crater where life at best is misery. - -The southern part of Arabia is of such a character geographically -and the coast so barren that it offers no attractions to the most -ambitious land-grabber. Oman, like Yemen, is fertile and has in -addition certain mining possibilities. Until recent years England was -the only foreign power that claimed an interest in the heritage of -the Sultan of Muscat. Now France is on the scene and is apparently -unwilling that British power should increase in Oman or the Gulf. The -alleged lease of a coaling-station to France by the Sultan of Muscat -in February, 1899, was only the beginning of French opposition made -manifest. Her establishment of a consulate at Muscat, her relations to -the slave-trade, her attempt to subsidize a line of French steamers -in the Gulf, her secret agents recently travelling in the Gulf—all -these were only ripples that show which way the current flows. So far -England has had free play in Oman; now another power has appeared. -The coaling-station incident was soon settled to the satisfaction -of all Englishmen, and in a thoroughly English way. Under threat of -bombardment the Sultan repudiated his agreement with the French and by -way of punishment for his misconduct his annual stipend was stopped. -Whether France will continue to seek to increase her influence in -the Gulf remains to be seen. It is certain that English policy is -strenuously opposed to allowing one square foot of Oman territory to -pass into the hands of France or any other foreign power. - -In April, 1899, it was announced that Russia had entered the Persian -Gulf as a political power and acquired the harbor of Bunder Abbas in -Persia as a terminus for her proposed railway. Since that time this -has been officially denied both at Teheran and St. Petersburg and also -stoutly reasserted with new proofs by the English press and the press -of India. It is undoubtedly news of a sensational character if it be -true. The presence of Russia in the Persian Gulf would probably change -the future history of all its litoral and help to decide the future -partition of Arabia and Mesopotamia. All things seem to be moving -toward a crisis in this region of the east. And if the battle for -empire and for possession of the keys to the gateway of India should be -fought in the Persian Gulf the possible consequences are too vast to be -surmised. What England’s policy would be in case there is truth in the -alleged Russian aggression, is summarized in a recent article in the -_Times_ of India: - -“It remains to consider what steps should be taken by Great Britain -in view of the new development in Gulf politics. It may be taken for -granted that Russia will not attempt to take possession of Bunder -Abbas for a considerable time to come. She will make every effort to -deny the existence of the advantage she has gained until a convenient -opportunity arises for putting her plan into execution. In the -meantime, Great Britain can be well content to remain quiet, and to -imitate her adversary by playing a waiting game. It will possibly be -suggested that by again occupying Kishm, and by seizing Ormuz, the -value of Bunder Abbas to Russia could at once be neutralized to a large -extent. That is doubtless true; but it is material to point out that -little is to be gained by precipitate action, that these points of -vantage can be occupied with facility at any time, and that the true -policy of Great Britain is to endeavor to preserve the _status quo_ for -as long a period as possible. - -“Meanwhile, there are many methods by which British power and influence -in the Gulf can be safeguarded. We understand that the Admiralty has -already decided to strengthen the naval force maintained in Persian -waters, and that the Admiral commanding the East Indies squadron will -in future give the Gulf a larger share of his personal supervision. But -this is not enough. The staff of political officers in the Gulf needs -to be enlarged.... Then, too, more telegraph cables are needed. Muscat -is now shut off from communication with the rest of the world, although -the port was once linked up with Aden by cable. A line should be laid -from Muscat to Jask forthwith, and another branch should connect Jask -with Bunder Abbas and Lingah. More political agents should be stationed -in the hinterland between Bunder Abbas and Seistan, with roving -commissions, if necessary. One other matter needs urgent attention. -Russia now possesses the sole right to construct railways in Persia, -under an agreement which, after being in existence ten years, expires -this year. Is anything being done to prevent the renewal of this -objectionable concession, which is deeply opposed to British interests -in the Shah’s dominions? It is in the highest degree important that -Great Britain should secure a share in the concessions for roads and -railways which will certainly be granted by the Persian government in -the near future. Unfortunately, the gaze of the British public is so -steadily concentrated upon China that it is unable to perceive dangers -which threaten the empire in a far more vital place. There must soon -be a rude awakening. It is not in China, but in Persia and the Persian -Gulf, that the centre of political strife and international rivalry in -Asia will soon be fixed.” - -With the event of Russia in the Gulf and her Persian policy, with -France envious of England’s growing prestige in this Orient, with -Germany at work building railways and Turkey’s days numbered, what is -to be the future of the fertile provinces of Busrah and Bagdad? Will -England continue to hold the upper hand in every part of Arabia and -will some future Lord Cromer develop the Euphrates-Tigris valley into -a second Egypt? The battle of diplomacy is on. European cabinets, -backed by immense armies and navies are playing a game involving -tremendous issues—issues not only tremendous to themselves and to -the populations of Arabia and Persia, but involving the interest of -another King and the greatest Kingdom. The event toward which history -and recent politics in Arabia have so far been moving is “the one far -off Divine event” of the Son of God. Not only to the missionary but to -every Christian the study of the politics of Arabia makes evident the -great Providential hand of God in the history of the Peninsula during -the past century. Jesus Christ holds the key to the situation. All the -kings of the earth are in His hand and to whomsoever He gives power or -privilege, the end will be the glory of His own name and the coming of -His own kingdom; also in Arabia. - - - - - XXIV - - THE ARABIC LANGUAGE - - “Arabic grammars should be strongly bound, because learners are so - often found to dash them frantically on the ground.”—_Keith Falconer._ - - “It is a language more extended over the face of the earth and which - has had more to do with the destiny of mankind than any other, except - English.”—_Rev. Geo. E. Post, M. D._, Beirut. - - “Wisdom hath alighted upon three things—the brain of the Franks, - the hands of the Chinese and the tongue of the Arabs.”—_Mohammed - ed-Damiri._ - - -Two religions contend for the mastery of the world; Christianity and -Islam. Two races strive for the possession of the dark continent, -the Anglo-Saxon and the Arab. Two languages have for ages past -contested for world-wide extension on the basis of colonization and -propagandism—the English and the Arabic. To-day about seventy millions -of people speak some form of the Arabic language, as their vernacular; -and nearly as many more know something of its literature in the Koran -because they are Mohammedans. In the Philippine islands the first -chapter of the Koran is repeated before dawn paints the sky red. The -refrain is taken up in Moslem prayers at Pekin and is repeated across -the whole of China. It is heard in the valleys of the Himalayas and -on “the roof of the world.” A few hours later the Persians pronounce -these Arabic words and then across the Peninsula the muezzins call -the “faithful” to prayer. At the waters of the Nile, the cry “_Allahu -akbar_” is again sounded forth ever carrying the Arab speech westward -across the Sudan, the Sahara and the Barbary States until it is last -heard in the mosques of Morocco. - -The Arabic Koran is a text-book in the day-schools of Turkey, -Afghanistan, Java, Sumatra, New Guinea, and Southern Russia. Arabic is -the spoken language not only of Arabia proper but forces the linguistic -boundary of that peninsula 300 miles north of Bagdad to Diarbekr and -Mardin, and is used all over Syria and Palestine and the whole of -northern Africa. Even at Cape Colony there are daily readers of the -language of Mohammed. As early as 1315 Arabic began to be taught at the -universities of Europe through the missionary influence of Raymund Lull -and to-day the language is more accurately known and its literature -more critically investigated at Leiden than at Cairo and at Cambridge -than in Damascus. - -A missionary in Syria who is a master of the Arab tongue thus -characterizes it, “A pure and original speech of the greatest -flexibility, with an enormous vocabulary, with great grammatical -possibility, fitted to convey theological and philosophical and -scientific thought in a manner not to be excelled by any language -except the English, and the little group of languages which have been -cultivated so happily by Christianity in Central Europe.” Ernest Renan, -the French Semitic scholar, after expressing his surprise that such -a language as Arabic should spring from the desert-regions of Arabia -and reach perfection in nomadic camps, says that the Arabic surpasses -all its sister Semitic languages in its rich vocabulary, delicacy of -expression, and the logic of its grammatical construction.[83] - -The Semitic family of languages is large and ancient, although not -as extensive geographically nor so diverse as those of Indo-European -family. Some maintain[84] that the Semites were ancient immigrants from -the region northeast of Arabia. They hold that before the formation of -the different Semitic dialects the Semites everywhere used a name for -the camel (_jemel_) which still appears in all of the dialects. They -have however no names in common for the date-palm, the fruit of the the -palm nor for the ostrich, therefore, in their first home, the Semites -knew the camel but did not know the palm. Now the region where there is -neither date-palm nor ostrich and yet where the camel has lived from -the remotest antiquity is the central table-land of Asia near the Oxus. -Von Kremer holds that from this region the Semites migrated to Babylon -even before the Aryan emigration; the Mesopotamian valley is the oldest -seat of Semitic culture. - -Others[85] hold that the original home of the Semites was in the south -of Arabia whence they gradually overspread the peninsula, so that, as -Sprenger expresses it, “All Semite are successive layers of Arabs.” The -arguments for this theory are briefly given by Sayce:[86] “The Semitic -traditions all point to Arabia as the original home of the race. It is -the only part of the world which has remained exclusively Semites. The -racial characteristics—intensity of faith, ferocity, exclusiveness, -imagination—can best be explained by a desert origin.” De Goeje -lays stress on the fine climate of Central Arabia and the splendid -physical development of the Arab as additional proof together with the -indisputable fact that “of all Semitic languages the Arabic approaches -nearest to the original mother-tongue as was conclusively demonstrated -by Professor Schrader of Berlin.” - -The following table will show at a glance the position of Arabic -in the Semitic family group, _dead languages being put in italics_. -Arabic, ancient and modern belongs to the South Semitic group and at -an early period supplanted the Himyaritic in Yemen, although the Mahri -and Ehkeli dialects are still used in the mountains of Hadramaut.[87] -It was practically the only conquering language on the list and is the -only one that is growing in use. - - - TABLE OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES. - - NORTHERN: - EASTERN - _Babylonian._ - _Assyrian._ - WESTERN (Aramaic) - Eastern - Syriac. - Mandean. - _Nabathean._ - Western - _Samaritan._ - _Jewish Aramaic_ (as Targums and Talmud). - _Palmyrene._ - _Egyptian Aramaic._ - - CENTRAL: - _Phœnician._ - Hebrew. - _Moabite_ and _Canaanitish dialects_. - - SOUTHERN: - ARABIC (Ishmaelite) - One written language but Modern Dialects in speech. - Maltese [?]. - Morocco. - Algerian, etc. - Egyptian. - Syrian. - Yemen. - Bagdadi. - Omanese, etc. - _Himyaritic_ - Mahri. - _Ehkeli._ - Ethiopic (Joktanite) - _Old Geez._ - Tigre. - Tigrina. - Amharic. - Harari. - -There are to-day over one hundred Arabic newspapers and magazines -regularly published and which together have an immense circulation in -all parts of the Arabic-speaking world. - -While the Arabic language has now acknowledged supremacy above all its -sisters, in its historical and literary development it was last of -them all. Not until the seventh century of our era did Arabic become, -in any sense, important. The language received its literary birthright -and its inspiration through the illiterate prophet who could not read -but who set all the Eastern world to studying his book. The Arabic -literature of the days before Mohammed has a high literary character, -but with all its beauty it was only the morning star that ushered -in the sunrise. When once the Koran was promulgated, literature and -grammar and the sciences all spoke Arabic. It was the renaissance of -the dead and dying East. Whatever effect the Koran may have had on -the social life and morals of a people, no one denies that it was -the Koran and that alone which rescued Arabic from becoming a local -idiom. Again this Koran was the unifying factor of the new religion, -sweeping everything down before it; not only did it unify the hostile -tribes of Arabia but melted all their dialects into one and established -an ever-abiding classical standard for the remotest student of the -language of revelation. We do not of course hold, as do the Arabs, that -the Arabic of the Koran is absolutely without a parallel in grammatical -purity and diction. The contrary has been proved by Nöldeke and Dozy. -The latter states that the Koran is “full of bastard-Arabic and has -many grammatical blunders, which are at present unnoticed, since the -grammarians have kindly constructed rules or exceptions to include even -these in the list of unapproachable style and perfection.” - -The origin and history of the Arabic alphabet is exceedingly -interesting. All writing was originally pictorial, the next stage -being that of the ideogram. Perhaps a trace of this earliest writing -still remains in the _wasms_ or tribal marks of the Bedouin. Scholars -maintain that the earliest Semitic writing we possess of certain date -is that on the Moabite Stone, discovered by the missionary Klein in -1868. Almost of equal age is the Cyprus and Sidon alphabet, and that -of the Phœnicians, found on ancient coins and monuments. The date of -this writing is put at 890 B. C. On these monuments and coins the -system of orthography is already so carefully developed as to prove -that the Semites understood the art centuries before that date. The -oldest forms of these Semitic alphabets are in turn derived (Halévy, -Nöldeke) from the Egyptian hieratic characters. The oldest inscriptions -found in North Arabia by Doughty and Enting, in the Nabatean character, -and in South Arabia by Halévy and others in Himyaritic character, are -both written, like modern Arabic, from right to left. Although the -characters do not resemble each other, this would seem to indicate a -common origin. The intimate connection of the present Arabic alphabet -with the Hebrew or Phœnician, is shown not only by the forms of the -letters, but by their more ancient numerical arrangement called by the -Arabs _Abjad_, and which corresponds with the Hebrew order. - -[Illustration: CUFIC CHARACTERS.] - -Accounts differ even among the Arabs as to who adapted or invented -the present Arabic alphabet from the older Cufic forms. Some even -hold that they both developed simultaneously out of the Himyaritic. -The Cufic, it is true, is found on old monuments and coins from the -Persian Gulf to Spain, and is a square, apparently more crude kind of -writing. But the cursive script (now called _Naskhi_) seems to have -been in use also long before Mohammed’s time, the Arab historians to -the contrary notwithstanding, for the exigencies of daily life. That -writing was known at Mecca before the era of Mohammed is acknowledged -by Moslem tradition and the close intercourse with Yemen long before -that time would certainly indicate some knowledge of Himyaritic. Syriac -and Hebrew were also known in Mecca and Medina because of the Jewish -population, and it is not improbable that this may have had influence -on the present form of the Arabic alphabet. - -[Illustration: MODERN COPYBOOK STYLE OF ARABIC (VOWELED.)] - -[Illustration: ORDINARY ARABIC HANDWRITING (UNVOWELED.)] - -It is not without reason that Mohammed’s cognomen for Jew and Christian -alike was, “the people of the _Book_.” At first, like the Hebrew, -Arabic had no vowel-points or diacritical marks. In the earliest Cufic -Koran manuscripts these have the form of accents, horizontal lines -or even triangles. The Arabs tell many interesting stories about the -cause and occasion of their invention by Abu Aswad ad Duili or by Nasr -bin ’Asim. In each case the awful sin of mispronouncing a word in the -Koran leads to the device of vowel-points as a future preventative. -According to another tradition it was Hasan-el-Basri (who died A. H. -110) that first pointed the Koran text with the assistance of Yahya bin -Yámar. The vowel-points, so called, were in reality the abbreviated -weak-consonants and were placed, in accordance with the sound of these -letters, when so pronounced. The vowel-points and diacritical marks -are always found in copies of the Koran, but seldom in other books -and never in epistolary writing. They are considered by the Arabs -themselves as at best a necessary evil, except for grammarians and -purists. The story is told that an elaborate piece of Arabic penmanship -was once presented to the governor of Khorasan under the Caliph al -Mamun, and that he exclaimed, “How beautiful this would be if there -were not so much coriander seed scattered over it!” - -[Illustration: MOGREBI ARABIC OF NORTH AFRICA (UNVOWELED.)] - -The demand for perfect accuracy in copying the Koran in every detail of -point and accent, led the Arabs to glorify the art of caligraphy, and, -as they followed neither painting nor sculpture because of their creed, -they naturally put all their artistic taste into their manuscripts. -Brilliantly colored and adorned with gold on delicately tinted -parchment, or paper, the fanciful chapter-headings and the elegant -tracery of each letter in the book make such an old manuscript Koran a -real work of art. Three names are recorded of those who in the early -days of Islam were the Raphaels and Michael Angelos of the reed-pen; -Wazir Muhammed bin Ali, Ali bin Hilal al Bauwab, and Abu-’d-Dur bin -Yakut al Musta’sami. As time went by there arose various schools of -this art; chiefly distinguished as the Magrib-Berber or Western, and -the Turko-Arab or Eastern style. In the decorations of the Alhambra the -western school shows some of its most finished art, while Damascus and -Cairo mosques show the delicate “Arabesque” traceries of the lighter -oriental school. It is in manuscripts, however, that the best work is -found; some of these are of priceless value and exceeding beauty. Even -to-day there are Arab penmen whose work commands a good price as _art_ -and gives them a position in society as it did the monkey, described in -the Arabian Nights, who improvised poetry in five styles of caligraphy -for the astonished king. - -[Illustration: PERSIAN STYLE EXTENSIVELY USED IN EASTERN ARABIA.] - -The Arabic language is distinguished among those that know it for its -_beauty_, and among those who are learning it for its _difficulty_. To -the Arabs their language is not only the language of revelation, but -of the Revealer himself. Allah speaks Arabic in heaven, and on the day -of judgment will judge the world in this “language of the angels.” All -other tongues are vastly inferior in grammatical construction, and what -else could they be since the Koran with its classical perfection has -existed before all words, uncreated, written on the preserved tablet -in heaven, the daily delight of the innumerable company of angels! As -Renan says, “among a people so preoccupied with language as the Arabs, -the _language_ of the Koran became as it were a second religion, a -sort of dogma inseparable from Islam.” But the innate beauty of the -language is acknowledged by all who have made it a study, whether born -on the soil of Arabia or educated in the universities of Europe. From -the days of the Dutch scholars, De Dieu, Schultens, Schroeder and -Scheid, and the Swiss Hottinger to the times of Nöldeke, Gesenius and -Renan, the praises of Arabic have been proclaimed in Europe, and its -study pursued with a devotion that almost amounted to a passion. - -The elements of beauty in this language are many. There is first its -logical structure, which, we are told, surpasses that of any other -language. Even the order of the alphabet is more logical as regards -form than the Hebrew; its grammar is altogether logical; the exceptions -to its rules can be formed, so to say, into a syllogism. Palmer’s and -Lansing’s grammars show how this logical structure can be discovered in -the minutest detail, so that, _e. g._, the three short vowels control -the forms not only, but the significance of roots, and are the key to -the interpretation of all grammatical mysteries. - -A second element of beauty is found in the lexical richness of the -Arabic. Its boundless vocabulary and wealth of synonyms are universally -acknowledged and admired. A dictionary is called a _Kamoos_ or -“Deep Ocean” where “full many a gem of purest ray serene, the dark -unfathomed caves” conceal for the diligent student. Renan tells of -an Arab linguist who wrote a book on the 500 names given to the lion -in literature; another gives 200 words for serpent. Firozabadi, the -Arabian Webster, is said to have written a sort of supplement on the -words for honey and to have left it incomplete at the _eightieth_ word; -the same authority asserts that there are over 1,000 different terms in -Arabic for sword and, judging from its use by the Arabs, this appears -credible. De Hammer Purgstall, a German scholar, wrote a book on the -words relating to the _camel_ and finds them, in Arabic literature, -to the number of 5,744. But this remarkable exhibition loses some of -its grandeur when truth compels us to state that many of the so-called -synonyms are epithets changed into substantives or tropes accidentally -employed by some poet to conform to his rhyme. It is also true that the -wealth of synonym is limited in Arabic to a certain class of words; -in other departments of thought, ethics for example, the language is -wofully poor, not even having a distinctive word for conscience. - -A third point of beauty in the Arabic language is its purity as -compared with other Semitic languages or even all other languages. -This was partly due to the geographical location of the Arabs and is -still due to their early literature together with the Koran which has -put a classical standard into the hands of every schoolboy and has -prevented, by the law of religion, both development and deterioration. -“While other languages of the same family became dead and while -many of their forms and meanings changed or disappeared, the Arabic -remained comparatively pure and intact excepting perhaps the temporary -corruption which necessarily occurred during the Moslem conquests and -foreign applications of the first four Caliphs.”[88] - -The Arabic race occupied at first a circumscribed territory and came -little into contact with the surrounding nations so that the forces -which produce linguistic decay were absent. The only thing that will -preserve a language pure next to isolation is a classical literature. -English has changed less since Shakespeare’s time than it did in the -interval between him and Chaucer. So too with Arabic. Had it not been -for the Koran and its cognate literature, by this time the people -of Syria, Egypt, Morocco and Oman would perhaps scarcely understand -each other, and their written language would differ vastly; but the -existence of this literature has kept the written language a unit and -put a constant check on the vagaries of dialect. - -The last, and chief element of beauty in the Arabic tongue is -undoubtedly its wonderful literature. In poetry alone, the Arabians -can challenge the world; in grammar, logic and rhetoric the number of -their works is legion; while both at Bagdad and Cordova Arab historians -and biographers filled whole libraries with their learning; in Cordova -the royal library contained 400,000 volumes. Algebra and Astronomy are -specially indebted to the Arabs; all the sciences received attention -and some of them addition from the Arabian mind. - -The Arabic tongue is not only beautiful but it is difficult, -exceedingly difficult, to every one who attempts to really master it. -One of the veteran missionaries of Egypt wrote, in 1864, “I would -rather traverse Africa from Alexandria to the Cape of Good Hope, than -undertake a second time to master the Arabic language.” The first -difficulty is its correct pronunciation. Some Arabic letters cannot be -transliterated into English, although certain grammars take infinite -pains to accomplish the impossible. The gutturals belong to the desert -and were doubtless borrowed from the camel when she complained of -overloading. There are also one or two other letters which sorely try -the patience of the beginner and in some cases remain obstinate to the -end. Then the student soon learns, and the sooner the better, that -Arabic is totally different in construction from European tongues and -that “as far as the East is from the West” so far he must modify his -ideas as to the correct way of expressing thought; and this means to -disregard all notions of Indo-European grammar when in touch with the -sons of Shem. Every word in the Arabic language is referred to a root -of three letters. These roots are modified by prefixes, infixes and -suffixes, according to definite models, so that from one root a host -of words can be constructed and vice versa, from a compounded word -all the servile letters and syllables must be eliminated to find the -original root. This digging for roots and building up of roots is not a -pastime at the outset because of the extent of the root-garden. Dozy’s -_supplement_ to Lane’s Monumental Arabic Lexicon has 1,714 pages. So -large in fact is the vocabulary of Arabic writers that the classics -require copious explanatory notes for the Arabs themselves and some of -them have written notes on the notes, to explain the difficult words -used in explaining others more difficult. Moreover Arabic literature is -so vast in its extent that acquaintance with the vocabulary of a dozen -authors in one line of literature does not yet enable the student to -appreciate the language of other works. You may be able to read the -Koran tolerably well and understand its diction and yet when you turn -to the Arabian Shakespeare or Milton find yourself literally at sea, in -the _Kamoos_, and unable to understand a single line. - -The regular verb in Arabic has fifteen conjugations, two voices, two -tenses, and several moods; the irregular verbs are many and mysterious -to the beginner although grammarians try to make them appear easier -by demonstrating that all their irregularities are strictly logical, -not the result of linguistic perversity but foreseen calculation and -providential wisdom. Is it not “the language of the angels”?—even the -broken-plurals? - -As a final testimony to the difficulties of the Arabic language listen -to Ion Keith Falconer. After passing the Semitic Languages Tripos at -Cambridge under Dr. Wright, and taking a special course in Arabic at -Leipzig, he writes from Assiut in Egypt: “I am getting on in Arabic, -but it is most appallingly hard.... I have learned a good deal and can -make myself intelligible to servants and porters. I have a teacher -every day for two hours and translate from a child’s reading book.” -After _five years_ of further study he writes once more from Aden -(Jan. 17, 1886), “I am learning to speak Arabic quite nicely but it -will be long before I can deliver real discourses.” And this man was -an all-around scholar with a passion for languages. Without any doubt -Arabic _is_ one of the most difficult languages in the world to acquire -with any degree of fluency, and progress in its attainment means -ceaseless plodding and endless diligence. - - - - - XXV - - THE LITERATURE OF THE ARABS - - -The literature of the Arabs is either pre-Islamic or post-Islamic; -the former has as its chief classics the Muallakāt or seven suspended -poems, the latter finds its centre and apex as well as its origin and -inspiration in the Koran. The seven ancient poems, still extant, are -also called _Muthahabat_ or the “golden poems,” and it is generally -admitted by Arabic scholars that this was indeed the golden age of Arab -literature. Zuhair, Zarafah, Imru-l-Kais, Amru-ibn-Kulsum, Al Harith, -’Antar and Labid were the authors of these poems and all but the last -were idolaters, and belong to what the conceit of Islam calls “the Time -of Ignorance.” These poems furnished the model ever afterward for later -writers and, according to Baron de Slane, are remarkable for their -perfection of form and exhibit a high degree of linguistic culture. - -But the Koran has eclipsed all that ever went before it or came after -it in the eyes of the Arabs. It is the paragon of literary perfection -as well as of moral beauty. Its style is inimitable because it is -Divine in the highest sense of the word. To criticise its diction is to -be guilty of blasphemy and to compare it with other literature is to -commit sacrilege. There is no doubt that the chief charm of the Koran -from a literary standpoint is its musical jingle and cadence. It is -such as the Arabs, the earliest masters of rhyme, love, and servilely -imitate in all their later prose works. Our English translations of -the Koran, although accurate, (and even idiomatic, as Palmer’s) cannot -reproduce this; in consequence the book appears vapid, monotonous and -to the last degree wearisome and uninteresting. Attempts have been made -by Burton and others to acquaint English readers with this element of -beauty in Mohammed’s revelation. The following[89] is almost equal to -the Arabic itself, and, to say the least, sounds more interesting than -Sale’s prose version of the same passage: - - “I swear by the splendor of light - And by the silence of night - That the Lord shall never forsake thee - Nor in His hatred take thee; - Truly for thee shall be winning - Better than all beginning - Soon shall the Lord console thee, grief no longer control thee, - And fear no longer cajole thee. - Thou wert an orphan-boy, yet the Lord found room for thy head. - When thy feet went astray, were they not to the right path led? - Did He not find thee poor, yet riches around thee spread? - Then on the orphan-boy, let thy proud foot never tread, - And never turn away the beggar who asks for bread, - But of the Lord’s bounty ever let praise be sung and said.” - -It is not to be expected that all the transcendant excellencies and -miraculous beauties which Moslem commentators find in the Koran should -unveil themselves to cold, unsympathizing western gaze, but that the -book has a certain literary beauty no one can deny who has read it -in the original. As Penrice says in his preface to his Dictionary of -the Koran, “Beauties there are many and great; ideas highly poetical -are clothed in rich and appropriate language, which not unfrequently -rises to a sublimity far beyond the reach of any translation; but it -is unfortunately the case that many of those graces which present -themselves to the admiration of the finished scholar are but so many -stumbling-blocks in the way of the beginner; the marvellous conciseness -which adds so greatly to the force and energy of its expressions cannot -fail to perplex him while the frequent use of the ellipse leaves in his -mind a feeling of vagueness not altogether out of character in a work -of its oracular and _soi-disant_ prophetic nature.” - -The greatest literary treasure of the Arabs next to the Koran is the -_Makāmat_ of Al Hariri. No one of polite scholarship would dare profess -ignorance of this great classic, and the reader of these “Assemblies” -is introduced to every branch of Mohammedan learning—poetry, history, -antiquities, theology and law. Recently Hariri has been translated -into English by Chenery and an earlier translation by Preston has also -been printed. Stanley Lane-Poole reviewing these translations thus -characterizes this Shakespeare of the Arabic world: - -“It is difficult, no doubt, for most Westerns to appreciate the -beauties of this celebrated classic. There is no cohesion, no -connecting idea, between the fifty separate ‘Assemblies,’ beyond -the regular reappearance of an egregious Tartufe, called Abu-Zeyd, -a Bohemian of brilliant parts and absolutely no conscience, who -consistently extracts alms from assemblies of people in various cities, -by preaching eloquent discourses of the highest piety and morality, -and then goes off with his spoils to indulge secretly in triumphant -and unhallowed revels. Even in this framework there is no attempt at -originality; it is borrowed from Hamadâni, the ‘Wonder of the Age.’ -The excellence lies in the perfect finish: the matter is nothing; -the charm consists in the form alone. Yet this form is, to English -readers, exotic and artificial. Among its special merits, in the eyes -of Easterns, is the perpetual employment of rimed prose. To us this -is apt to seem at once monotonous and strained, with its antithetic -balance in sense, and jingle of sound; but to the Arabs, as to many -primitive peoples, either riming or assonant prose was from early times -a natural mode of impassioned and impressive speech. It is the mode -adopted constantly and without strain in the Koran, and it is the mode -into which an historian, such as Ibn-el-Athîr, falls naturally when he -waxes eloquent over a great victory or a famous deed.... - -“But if we do not care for rimed prose, there is plenty besides in -Hariri to minister to varied tastes. In these wonderful ‘Assemblies,’ -we shall find every kind of literary form, except the shambling and -the vulgar. Pagan rhetoric, Moslem exhortation, simple verse, elaborate -ode, everything that the immeasurable flexibility of the Arabic tongue -and the curious art of a fastidious scholar could achieve—all is here, -and we may take our choice.” - -What is said by this scholarly critic of Hariri holds true of most -Arabic poetry, it lacks unity of idea and sobriety of expression. All -is intense. Every beautiful eye is a narcissus; tears are pearls; teeth -are pearls or hail-stones; lips are rubies; the gums, pomegranate -blossoms; piercing eyes are swords, and the eyelids, scabbards; a -mole is an ant creeping to suck the honey from the lips; a handsome -face is a full-moon; an erect form is the letter alif as penned by -Wazir Muhammed; black hair is night; the waist is a willow-branch or a -lance, and love is always passion. Far-fetched allusions abound and the -_sense_ at every turn must do homage to the _sound_. In the judgment of -Baron de Slane the two notable exceptions to the rule are Al Mutanabbi -and Ibn El Farid who exhibit a daring and surprising originality often -approaching the sublime and, in the case of the latter, mystic reveries -and spiritual beauties of no mean order. - -The influence of the Arabic language on other tongues and peoples has -also been great, ever since the rise of Islam. The Persian language -adopted the Arabic alphabet and a large number of Arabic words and -phrases; so that, as Renan remarks, in some Persian books all the -words are Arabic and only the grammar remains in the vernacular. As -for Hindustani, three-fourths of its vocabulary consists of Arabic -words or Arabic words derived through the Persian. The Turkish language -also is indebted for many words taken from the Arabic and uses the -Arabic alphabet. The Malay language, with the Moslem conquest, was -also touched by Arabic influence and likewise adopted its alphabet. -In Africa its influence was yet more strongly felt. The language -extended over all the northern half of the continent and is still -growing in use to-day. The geographical nomenclature of the interior -is Arabic and Arabs preceded Livingstone, Stanley and Speke in all -their journeys. The languages of the southern Sudan, the Hausa, and -even those of Guinea borrowed largely from the Arabic. Europe itself -did not escape the influence of the conquering Semitic tongue. Spanish -and Portuguese betray a vast number of Arabic words and idioms. French -and English are also indebted to Arabic in no small degree for many -scientific and technical words introduced at the time of the crusades -and even earlier. Here is a partial list of those which we received -directly or indirectly from the Arab tongue, as given in Skeat’s -Etymological Dictionary and arranged into sentences; every word in -italics is of Arabic origin. - - “The _Nabob Mohammedan Magazine_ relates, that years after the - _Hegira_, a _saracen caliph_ or _Mameluke sultan_, sat with - his _mussulman emir_, _admiral_, _vizier_, _moslem mufti_ and - _Koran-munshee_, (who knew _alchemy_ and _algebra_ and could - _cipher_ the _azimuth_ and _nadir_ to _zero_), _sheikh_ of the - _hareem_, _muezzin_ and _tariff-dragoman_ of the _arsenal_, under a - _carob_-tree, on _sofas_ of _mohair-mattress_ covered with _jerboa-_ - and _gazelle-skins_, drinking _coffee_, _saffron-elixer_, _arrack_, - _alcohol_ and _syrup_ of _senna, carraway_ and _sumach_. For tonic - they also had _rose-attar_, _artichokes_, _alkaline-nitre_ in - _myrrh_, _taraxacum_, _otto-sherbet_, and _naphtha_ in _amber_ cups. - The _Sultan’s_ infant daughter wore a _carmine cotton_ and-_muslin - chemise_ or _diaper_ with a _civet talisman_ and _jasper amulet_; - she played a _Tartar lute_. Suddenly a _giaour Bedouin assassin_ - with an _assagai_ and _hookah-masque_ came down on them from behind - an _alcove_ of the neighboring _arabesque mosque minaret_ like a - _sirocco-simoon_ or _monsoon_ and killed them all.” - -Most of these words came from the Arabic through other languages such -as French and Spanish; others were directly transferred from the Arabic -to English; and still others have passed the long journey from Arabic -to Greek, to Latin, to Italian, to French and thence to English. The -word _magazine_ is perhaps the best example of how an Arabic-root -found shelter in the soil of all the European languages and grew into -manifold significations from its original meaning with the Arabs, -_ghazana_ = to collect or store. - -In modern days, especially since the opening of the Suez canal, the -English language is beginning to exert its influence on Arabic. In -Egypt, Syria and the Persian Gulf many English commercial terms are -being adopted into the language and the newspapers spread their use -everywhere. - -Last, but not least, there is the immense, incalculable influence -on the Arabic-tongue for all time exerted by the toil and sacrifice -of the early missionaries to Syria through their college and press -in giving to the world a modern Christian and scientific literature -and that crowning work of Drs. Eli Smith and C. V. A. Van Dyck—the -Arabic Bible. The mission press at Beirut has four hundred and eighty -three volumes on its catalogue and prints about twenty-five million -pages annually.[90] The Arabic Bible “one of the noblest literally -monuments of the age” will yet prove a mighty influence in purifying -and ennobling the language and preserving its classical diction to -the utmost bounds of the Arab-world. There was only one Koran and -there will be only one Arabic Bible—the finished product of American -scholarship and her best gift to the Mohammedan world. - -[Illustration: TITLE PAGE OF A CHRISTIAN PAPER PRINTED IN ARABIC.] - - - - - XXVI - - THE ARAB - - “Children of Shem! Firstborn of Noah’s race - And still forever children; at the door - Of Eden found, unconscious of disgrace, - And loitering on while all are gone before; - Too proud to dig, too careless to be poor - Taking the gifts of God in thanklessness, - Not rendering aught, nor supplicating more, - Nor arguing with Him if He hide His face. - Yours is the rain and sunshine, and the way - Of an old wisdom, by our world forgot, - The courage of a day which knew not death; - Well may we sons of Japhet, in dismay, - Pause in our vain mad fight for life and breath, - Beholding you—I bow and reason not”—_Anon._ - - -Concerning the origin of the tribes and people that now inhabit -the Arabian peninsula there is disagreement among the learned. It -is generally held that the original tribes of Northern Arabia are -descendants of Ishmael. This is also the tradition of all Arab -historians. As to the South Arabians, who occupied their highlands with -the Hadramaut coast for centuries before the Ishmaelites appeared on -the scene there are two opinions. Some believe them to be descendants -of Joktan (Arabic _Kahtan_) the son of Heber and therefore, like -the Northern Arabs, true Semites. Others think that the earliest -inhabitants of South Arabia were Cushites or Hamitic; while some German -scholars hold that in the earlier Arabs the children of Joktan and of -Cush were blended into one race. - -Among the Ishmaelites are included not only Ishmael’s direct -descendants through the twelve princes,[91] but the Edomites, -Moabites, Ammonites, Midianites and probably other cognate tribes. -The names of the sons of Ishmael in relation to their settlements and -the traces of these names in modern Arabia is a subject which has been -taken up by Bible dictionaries but which still offers an interesting -field for further study. The Arabs themselves have always claimed -Abrahamic descent for the tribes of the north. The age-long, racial -animosity between the Yemenites and Māadites seems to confirm the -theory of two distinct races inhabiting the peninsula from very early -times; and they remain distinct until to-day in spite of a common -language and a common religion. “The animosity of these two races to -each other is unaccountable but invincible. Like two chemical products -which instantly explode when placed in contact, so has it always been -found impossible for Yemenite and Māadite to live quietly together. -At the present day the Yemenite in the vicinity of Jerusalem detests -the Māadite of Hebron, and when questioned as to the reason of their -eternal enmity has no other reply but that it has been so from time -immemorial. In the time of the Caliphs the territory of Damascus was -desolated by a murderous war for two years, because a Māadite had taken -a lemon from the garden of a Yemenite. The province of Murcia in Spain -was deluged with blood for seven years because a Māadite inadvertently -plucked a Yemenite vine-leaf. It was a passion which surmounted every -tie of affection or interest. ‘You have prayed for your father: why do -you not pray for your mother?’ a Yemenite was asked near the Kaaba. -‘For my mother!’ said the Yemenite, ‘How could I? She was of the race -of Māad.’”[92] - -The Yemenites at a very early period founded the strong and opulent -Himyarite Kingdom. The Himyarites were the navigators of the East and -they were celebrated for their skill in manufacture as well as for -enterprise in commerce; they had a written language, inscriptions -in which were discovered all over south Arabia during the present -century. The Māadite or Ishmaelite Arabs on the contrary were more -nomad in their habits and were masters of the caravans which carried -the enormous overland trade by the two great trunk-lines of antiquity, -from the East to the West. One of these lines extended from Aden, -(Arabia Emporium of Ptolemy) along the western part of the peninsula -and through Yemen to Egypt; the other extended from Babylon to Tadmor -and Damascus. A third route, nearly as important, was also in the hands -of the Ishmaelite Arabs, by Wady Rumma and Nejd to the old capital of -the Himyarites, Mareb.[93] These caravans unified the Arabian peninsula -and fused into one its two peoples; the northern Arabs receiving -somewhat of the southern civilization and the southern Arabs adopting -the language of the north. But the decline in the caravan trade brought -disaster to Arabia; the ship of the desert found a competitor in the -ships of the sea. Old settlements were broken up, great cities, which -flourished because of overland trade, were abandoned and whole tribes -were reduced from opulence to poverty. In this time of transition, -long before the birth of Mohammed, the Arabic nation as it is known to -modern history seems to have been formed. - -The modern Arabs classify themselves into Bedouins and town-dwellers; -or, in their own poetic way, _ahl el beit_ and _ahl el h’eit_, -“the people of the tent,” and “the people of the wall.” But this -classification is hardly sufficient, although it has been generally -adopted by writers on Arabia. Edson L. Clark, in his book, The Arabs -and the Turks, gives five classes: “Beginning at the lowest round of -the ladder we have first the sedentary or settled Arabs. .. who though -still many of them dwelling in tents have become cultivators of the -soil. By their nomadic brethren these settled Arabs are thoroughly -despised as degraded and denationalized by the change in their mode -of life. Secondly, the wandering tribes in the neighborhood of the -settled districts, and in constant intercourse with their inhabitants. -Both these classes, but more especially the latter, are thoroughly -demoralized.... The third class consists of the Arabs of the Turkish -towns and villages; but they too are a degenerate class both in -language and character.... The fourth class consists of the inhabitants -of the towns and villages of Arabia proper, who by their peculiar -situation have remained more secluded from the rest of the world than -even the wandering tribes.... Finally the great nomadic tribes of the -interior, still preserving unchanged the primitive character, habits -and customs of their race.” This last class and this alone are the real -Bedouins. - -In addition to this classification according to civilization there -is the universal genealogical classification; and no people in the -world are fonder of genealogies than the Arabs. The names of tribes -and families go back, in many cases to pre-islamic days. The earliest -tribal-names, therefore, are either taken from animals or totem-names, -like Panthers, Dogs, Lizards, _e. g._, _Anmar Kilab_, _Dibab_, etc.; -place-names transformed afterward by the genealogists into ancestors, -_e. g._, _Hadramaut_, _Hauāb_; or from idols and idol-worship, _e. g._, -_Abd el Kais_, _Abd al Lat_, etc. But the later system of genealogies -as given by the Arabs are utterly unreliable because they are so -evidently artificial. The backbone of the system was the pedigree of -Mohammed and this is notoriously untrustworthy. “Dummy ancestors” were -inserted in order to connect a particular but unimportant tribe with -a distinguished one, and Hamdani himself tells us that he found it a -common practice of obscure desert groups to call themselves by the name -of some more famous tribe.[94] - -Character is difficult to define. To depict the moral physiognomy of a -nation and their physical traits in such a way that nothing important -is omitted and no single characteristic exaggerated at the cost of -others. This difficulty is increased in the case of the Arabs, by their -twofold origin and their present twofold civilization. That which is -true of the town-dweller, is not always true of the Bedouin and vice -versa. Moreover the influence of the neighboring countries must be -taken into account. Eastern Arabia has taken color by long contact with -Persia; this is seen in speech, architecture, food and dress. Southern -Arabia, especially Hadramaut, has absorbed East Indian ideas. While -Western Arabia, especially Hejaz, shows in many ways its proximity to -Egypt. Not losing sight of these distinctions, which will account for -many exceptions to the general statements made, what is the character -of the Arabs? - -Physically, they are undoubtedly one of the strongest and noblest races -of the world. Baron de Larrey, surgeon-general of the first Napoleon, -in his expeditions to Egypt and Syria, says: “Their physical structure -is in all respects more perfect than that of Europeans; their organs -of sense exquisitely acute, their size above the average of men in -general, their figure robust and elegant, the color brown; their -intelligence proportionate to their physical perfection, and without -doubt superior, other things being equal, to that of other nations.” - -The typical Arab face is round-oval, but the general leanness of the -features detracts from its regularity; the bones are prominent; the -eyebrows long and bushy; the eye small, deep-set, fiery black or a -dark, deep brown. The face expresses half dignity, half cunning, and is -not unkindly, although never smiling or benignant. The teeth are white, -even, short and broad. The Arabs have very scanty beards as a rule, -but those of the towns often cultivate a patriarchal beard like the -traditional beard of the prophet. The figure is well-knit, muscular, -long-limbed, never fat. The arms and legs are thin, almost shrunken, -but with muscles like whip-cords. As young men the Bedouins are often -good-looking, with bright eyes and dark hair, but the constant habit of -frowning to protect the eyes from the glare of the sun, soon gives the -face a fierce aspect; at forty their beards turn grey and at fifty they -appear old men. - -It is a common mistake to consider the Arabs democratic in their ideas -of society. The genuine Arab was and is always an aristocrat. Feuds -originate about the precedence of one family or tribe over another; -marriage is only allowed between tribes or clans of equal standing; the -whole system of sheikh-government is an aristocratic idea; and as final -proof there still exists a species of caste in South Arabia, while in -North Arabia the Ma’adan Arabs of Mesopotamia and the _Suleyb_ of the -desert are little better than Pariahs as regards their neighbors. It is -with a heavy heart that any Arab sees set over him a man of less noble -extraction than himself. The religion of Arabia has made its people -fanatics, although according to Nöldeke, “fanaticism is characteristic -of all Semitic religions.” But he forgets the real distinction between -intolerance of another religion on ethical grounds as in the case of -Judaism, and the infinitely hard, one-sided, crude exclusiveness of -Islam. - -The Arabs rarely have the power of taking in complex unities at a -glance; the talent for arrangement is absent. An Arab carpenter cannot -draw a right angle, nor can an Arab servant lay a tablecloth square -on the table. The old Arab temple called a cube (Kaaba) has _none_ -of its sides or angles equal; their houses show the same lack of -the “carpenter’s eye” to-day. Streets are seldom parallel, even the -street, so-called, was not _straight_ in Damascus. The Arab mind loves -units, not unity; they are good soldiers, but poor generals; there is -no partnership in business; and no public spirit; each man lives for -himself. That is the reason why Yemen cannot shake off the yoke of the -Turk, and this explains why the smallest towns in Arabia have a great -many little mosques. The Arab has a keen eye for particulars, great -subjectivity, nervous restlessness, deep passion and inward feeling, -and yet joined with strong conservatism and love of the past. In -everything he follows old models and traditions; witness their poetry -and their tent-life—in Arab phrase, termed their “houses of hair” and -their “houses of poetry.” As a result of their language-structure, -the Arabs have naturally a strong tendency to a pointed, sharp speech -of epigrammatic brevity, but also go to the other extreme of ornate -tautology. The former is characteristic of the desert; the latter of -the towns. Eloquence and poetry are still worshipped. The only fine -art which Arabs admire is that of caligraphy; and those who have seen -finished specimens of an Arab master-penman, must acknowledge that in -them are all the elements of painting and sculpture. - -The Arabs are polite, good-natured, lively, manly, patient, courageous -and hospitable to a fault. They are also contentious, untruthful, -sensuous, distrustful, covetous, proud and superstitious. One must -always keep in mind this paradox in dealing with an Arab. As Clark -expresses it, “an Arab will lie and cheat, and swear any number of -false oaths, in a pecuniary transaction; but when once his faith is -pledged he can be implicitly trusted, even to the last extremity.” -There are Arab oaths such as _wallah_, which are intended to confirm -falsehoods and signify nothing. There are others, such as the threefold -oath, with _wa_, _bi_ and _ti_ as particles of swearing, which not even -the vilest robber among them dare break. Grammatically, the two oaths -are nearly the same. - -Robbery is a fine art among the nomads; but the high-minded Arab robs -lawfully, honestly and honorably. He will not attack his victims in -the night; he tries to avoid all bloodshed by coming with overwhelming -force; and if his enterprise miscarries, he boldly enters the first -tent possible, proclaims his true character and asks protection. The -_Dakheil_, or privilege of sanctuary, the salt covenant, the blood -covenant and the sacredness of the guest, all prove that the Arabs -are trustworthy. And yet, in the ordinary affairs of life, lying and -deception are the rule and seldom the exception. The true Arab is -niggardly when he buys, and will haggle for hours to reduce a price; -and yet he is prodigal and lavish in giving away his goods to prove his -hospitality. - -According to Burckhardt, the Arab is the only real lover of the -Orient; if he limits this to the Bedouin-Arab he is correct. In matters -of love and marriage the Arab of the towns is what Mohammed, the Meccan -merchant was, after the death of the old lady Khadijah. But Arabic -poetry of the times of ignorance does occasionally breathe the true -tale of love and chivalry; and the desert Arabs as a rule are not -polygamists nor given to divorce. - -It was a law among the ancient Arabs that whoever sheds the blood of -a man owes blood on that account to the family of the slain. This law -of blood-revenge was confirmed by the Koran and is a sacred right -everywhere in Arabia. An Arab is considered degenerate who accepts a -fine or any consideration save blood for blood. This law is both the -cause of continual feuds, and tends to terminate them without much -bloodshed. Arabs of the town and of the desert will quarrel for hours -without coming to blows; it is not cowardice that prevents an open -encounter, but the fear of shedding blood and blood-revenge. - -Family life among the Arabs is best studied by looking at child-life -in the desert and at the position of women among the Bedouin and the -town-dwellers. In no part of the world does the newborn child meet -less preparation for its reception than among the Bedouin. A land -bare of many blessings, general poverty and the law of the survival -of the fittest, has made the Arab mother stern of heart. In the open -desert under the shade of an acacia bush or behind a camel, the Arab -baby first sees the daylight. As soon as it is born the mother herself -rubs and cleans the child with sand, places it in her handkerchief -and carries it home. She suckles the child for a short period, and -at the age of four months it already drinks profusely of camels’ -milk. A name is given to the infant immediately; generally from some -trifling incident connected with its birth, or from some object -which attracts the mother’s fancy. Moslem names such as Hassan Ali -or Fatimah, are extremely uncommon among the true Bedouins; although -Mohammed is sometimes given. Beside his own peculiar name every -Bedouin boy is called by the name of his father and tribe. And what is -more remarkable, boys are often called after their sisters, _e. g._, -_Akhoo Noorah_, the brother of Noorah. Girls’ names are taken from the -constellations, birds, or desert animals like _Gazelle_. - -In education the Arab is a true child of nature. His parents leave him -to his own sweet will; they seldom chastise and seldom praise. Trained -from birth in the hard school of nomad life, fatigue and danger do -contribute much to his education. Burckhardt says, “I have seen parties -of naked boys playing at noonday upon the burning sand in the middle -of summer, running until they had fatigued themselves, and when they -returned to their fathers’ tents they were scolded for not continuing -the exercise. Instead of teaching the boy civil manners, the father -desires him to beat and pelt the strangers who come to the tent; to -steal or secrete some trifling article belonging to them. The more -saucy and impudent children are the more they are praised since this is -taken as an indication of future enterprise and warlike disposition. -Bedouin children, male and female, go unclad and play together until -their sixth year. The first child’s festival is that of circumcision. -At the age of seven years the day is fixed, sheep are killed and a -large dish of food is cooked. Women accompany the operation with a -loud song and afterward there is dancing and horseback riding and -encounters with lances. The girls adorn themselves with cheap jewelry -and tent-poles are decorated with ostrich feathers. Altogether it is a -gala-day. - -[Illustration: CHURNING BUTTER IN A BEDOUIN CAMP.] - -The Bedouin children have few toys but they manage to amuse themselves -with many games. I have seen a group of happy children, each with a pet -locust on a bit of string, watching whose steed should win the race. -The boys make music out of desert-grass winding it in curious fashion -to resemble a horn, and calling it _Masoor_. In Yemen and Nejd a sling, -like David’s, with pebbles from the brook is a lad’s first weapon. -Afterward he acquires a lance and perhaps an old discarded bowie-knife. -The children of the desert have no books.[95] But, of paper, they -have the Book of Nature. This magnificent picture book is never more -diligently studied than by those little dark eyes which watch the sheep -at pasture or count the stars in the blue abyss from their perch on a -lofty camel’s saddle in the midnight journeyings. - -When the Bedouin lad grows up, and begins to swear by the few -straggling hairs on his chin, he cannot read a letter, but he knows men -and he knows the desert. The talk heard at night around the Sheikh’s -tent or the acacia-brush fireside is much like the wisdom of the book -of Job. A philosophy of submission to the world as it is; a deification -of stoicism or patience; a profound trust that all will end well at -last. Sad to say even the little nomads, with their ignorance of all -religion, share in the fanatical antagonism of their elders toward the -Christian religion and Christians. One of their games, in Nejd, is to -draw a cross on the desert sand and then defile it; they learn that -all outside the pale of Mohammed’s creed are _kafirs_ and to please -Allah are glad to throw stones at any wayfaring Nasrani. Little do -the Bedouins and still less do their children, however, know of the -religion of Islam. The Koran is not a book for children’s minds and of -such is not the kingdom of Mohammed. - -The Bedouin child early puts away childish things. To western eyes -the children of Arabia appear like little old men and women; and the -grown-up people have minds like children. This is another paradox -of the Arab-character. At ten years the boy is sent to drive camels -and the girl to herd sheep; at fifteen they are both on the way to -matrimony. He wears the garb of a man and boasts a matchlock; she takes -to spinning camel hair and sings the songs of the past. Their brief -childhood is over. In the towns marriage takes place even earlier; and -there are boys of eighteen who have already divorced two wives. - -Among the Bedouins polygamy is not common nor is it among the poorer -Arabs of the towns. The marriage ceremony among the Bedouins is -as simple as it is long and complex among the townsmen. After the -negotiations which precede the marriage contract, the bridegroom comes -with a lamb in his arms to the tent of the girl’s father and there -cuts the lamb’s throat before witnesses. As soon as the blood falls on -the ground the contract is sealed; feasting and dancing follow, and -at night the bride is conducted to the bridegroom’s tent where he is -awaiting her arrival. Dowrys are paid more generally and more largely -in the towns than in the desert. Among certain Arab tribes a demand -of money for the hand of a bride would be deemed scandalous. From a -western standpoint the women of the Bedouin stand on a higher platform -of liberty and justice than those of the towns where the Koran has -done its work on one half of society to repress intellect and degrade -affection, and sensualize the sexual relation to the last degree. On -the other hand divorce is perhaps more common among the Bedouins,[96] -than among the city Arabs. Burckhardt met Arabs not yet forty-five -years of age who were known to have had above fifty wives. Concerning -the marriage-contract in the towns, the ceremony, the divorce -proceedings, and the methods by which that is made legal which even the -lax law of Islam condemns, the less said the better. - -On the position of women in Arabia we quote four unimpeachable -witnesses who have nothing in common save their knowledge of the -subject; there is truth on both sides where they differ; where they -agree there is no question of certainty as to the fact. - -DOUGHTY, the Christian explorer, whose volumes are a mine of -information says:[97] “The female is of all animals the better, say -the Arabians, save only in mankind. Upon the human female the Semites -cast all their blame. Hers is, they think, a maleficent nature, and -the Arabs complain that ‘she has seven lives.’ The Arabs are contrary -to womankind, upon whom they would have God’s curse; some, they say, -are poisoners of husbands and there are many adulteresses.... The -_horma_ [_i. e._, woman] they would have under subjection; admitted -to an equality, the ineptitude of her evil nature will break forth. -They check her all day at home and let her never be enfranchised from -servitude. The veil and the jealous lattice are rather of the obscene -Mohammedan austerity in the towns; among the mild tent-dwellers in the -open wilderness the housewives have a liberty as where all are kindred; -yet their hareem are now seen in the most Arabian tribes half-veiled.” - -BURCKHARDT, the time-honored authority on things Arabian, writes: “The -Bedouins are jealous of their women, but do not prevent them from -laughing and talking with strangers. It seldom happens that a Bedouin -strikes his wife; if he does so she calls loudly on her _wasy_ or -protector who pacifies the husband and makes him listen to reason.... -The wife and daughters perform all the domestic business. They grind -the wheat in the handmill or pound it in the mortar; they prepare the -breakfast and dinner; knead and bake the bread; make butter, fetch -water, work at the loom, mend the tent-covering and are, it must be -owned, indefatigable. While the husband or brother sits before the tent -smoking his pipe.” - -LADY ANN BLUNT, who travelled among the tribes of the Euphrates -valley with her husband, speaks thus from a woman’s standpoint. “Of -the Bedouin women a shorter description will be enough. As girls they -are pretty in a wild picturesque way and almost always have cheerful, -good-natured faces. They are hard-working and hard-worked, doing all -the labor of the camp.... They live apart from the men but are in no -way shut up or put under restraint. In the morning they all go out to -gather wood for the day, and whenever we have met them so employed they -have seemed in the highest possible spirits.... In mental qualities the -women of the desert are far below the men, their range of ideas being -extremely limited. Some few of them, however, get real influence over -their husbands and even, through them, over their tribes. In more than -one Sheikh’s tent it is in the woman’s half of it that the politics of -the tribe are settled.” - -SNOUCK HURGRONJE, the Dutch traveller who spent an entire year -(1884-85) in Mecca thus characterizes the position of women in Arabian -towns:[98] - - “What avail to the young maiden the songs of eulogy which once in - her life resound for her from the mouth of the singing-woman, but - which introduce her into a companionship by which she, with her whole - sex, is despised? Moslem literature, it is true, exhibits isolated - glimpses of a worthier estimation of woman, but the later view, which - comes more and more into prevalence, is the only one which finds - its expression in the sacred traditions, which represent hell as - full of women, and refuse to acknowledge in the woman, apart from - rare exceptions, either reason or religion, in poems, which refer - all the evil in the world to the woman as its root; in proverbs, - which represent a careful education of girls as mere wastefulness. - Ultimately, therefore, there is only conceded to the woman the - fascinating charm with which Allah has endowed her, in order to afford - the man, now and then in his earthly existence, the prelibation of the - pleasures of Paradise, and to bear him children.” - -The poems which revile womankind, and of which the Dutch traveller -speaks, are legion. Here are two examples in English translation from -Burton: - - “They said, marry!—I replied,— - Far be it from me - To take to my bosom a sackful of snakes. - I am free why then become a slave? - May Allah never bless womankind.” - - “They declare woman to be heaven to man; - I say, Allah, give me Jehannum, not this heaven.” - -Three kinds of dwellings are found in Arabia. There is the _tent_, the -date-palm hut, and the house built with mortar of stone or mud-brick. -The tent is distinctive, in a general sense, of the interior and of -Northern Arabia; the palm-hut of the coast and of South Arabia; while -houses of brick and mortar exist in all the towns and cities. The -evolution of the house is from goats’-hair to matting, and from matting -to mud-roof. Each of these dwellings is called _beit_, “the place where -one spends the night.” - -The Bedouin tent[99] consists of nine poles, arranged in sets of three -and a wide, black goats’-hair covering so as to form two parts; the -men’s apartment being to the left of the entrance and the women’s -to the right, separated by a white woollen carpet hanging from the -ridge-pole. The posts are about five to seven feet in height; the -length of the tent is between twenty and thirty feet, its depth at the -most is ten feet. The only furniture consists of cooking utensils, -pack-saddles, carpets, water-skins, wheat-bags and millstones. - -The date-palm hut is of different shapes. In Hejaz and Yemen it is -built like a huge beehive, circular and with a pointed roof. In Eastern -Arabia it consists of a square enclosure with hip-roof generally steep -and covered with matting or thatch-work. At Bahrein the Arabs are very -skillful in so weaving the date-fronds together and tightening every -crevice that the huts keep out wind and rain-storms most successfully. -The average size date-hut can be built for twenty or thirty Rupees -(seven to ten dollars) and will last for several years. - -The stone-dwellings of Arabia are as different in architecture and -material as circumstance and taste can make them. In Yemen large -castle-like dwellings crown every mountain and frown on every valley; -stone is plentiful and the plan of architecture inherits grace and -strength from the older civilization of the Himyarites. In Bagdad, -Busrah and East Arabia Persian architecture prevails, with arches, -wind-towers, tracery and the veranda-windows. While the architecture -of Mecca and Medina takes on its own peculiar type from the needs -of the pilgrimage. Generally speaking the Arabs build their houses -without windows to the street, and with an open court; the harem-system -dictates to the builder, even putting a high parapet on the flat-roof -against jealous eyes. Bleak walls without ornament or pictures are -also demanded by their surly religion. All furniture is simple and -commonplace; except where the touch of western civilization has -awakened a taste for mirrors, marble-top tables and music-boxes. - -In dress there is also much variety in Arabia. Turkish influence is -seen in the Ottoman provinces and Indian-Persian in Oman, Hassa and -Bahrein. The Turkish _fez_ and the _turban_ (which are not Arabian) are -examples. The common dress of the Bedouin is the type that underlies -all varieties. It consists of a coarse cotton shirt over which is worn -the abba or wide square mantle. The headdress is made with a square -cloth, folded across and fastened on the crown of the head by a circlet -of woollen-rope called an _‘akal_. The color of the garment and its -ornamentation depends on the locality; likewise the belt and the -weapons of the wearer. Sandals of all shapes are used; shoes and boots -on the coast indicate foreign influence. The dress of the Bedouin woman -is a wide cotton gown, with open sides, generally of a dark blue color, -and a cloth for the head. The veil is of various shapes; in Oman it has -the typical Egyptian nose-piece with only the middle part of the face -concealed; in the Turkish provinces of East Arabia, thin black cloth -conceals all the features. Nose and earrings are common. All Arab -women also tattoo their hands and faces as well as other parts of their -bodies, dye with henna and use antimony on their eyelashes for ornament. - -The staple foods of Arabia are bread, rice, ghee (or clarified butter, -which the Arabs call _semu_) milk, mutton and dates. These are found -everywhere and coffee is the universal beverage. Other foods and -fruits we have considered in our study of the provinces. Tea is now -widely used but was known scarcely anywhere less than twenty years -ago. Tobacco is smoked in every village and the Bedouins also are -passionately fond of the weed; even the Wahabi religious prohibition -did not drive out desire for the universal narcotic. There is one -article of food we have left unmentioned, _locusts_. These are quite a -staple in the grocers’ shops of all the interior towns of Arabia. They -are prepared for eating by boiling in salt and water, after which they -are dried in the sun. They taste like stale shrimps or dried herring. -The coast-dwellers still live largely on fish and in the days of -Ptolemy they were called _Ichthiophagoi_. - - - - - XXVII - - ARABIAN ARTS AND SCIENCES - - -Even Islam could not suppress the Arab’s love for music nor diminish -his regard for the great poets of “the days of ignorance.” For be it -known that, although one can buy Austrian mouth-organs in the bazaar -at Jiddah, and harmonicas from Germany in the toy-shop at Hofhoof, -music is generally held by Moslems, even to-day, to be contrary to -the teaching of the prophet. Mafia relates that when he was walking -with Ibn Omar, and they heard the music of a pipe the latter put his -fingers into his ears and went another road. Asked why, he said: “I was -with the prophet, and when he heard the noise of a musical pipe, he -put his fingers into his ears; and this happened when I was a child.” -Thus it comes to pass that by the iron law of tradition, more binding -to the pious Moslem ofttimes than the Koran itself, the Mohammedan -world considers music at least among the doubtful amusements for true -believers. And yet both before and after the advent of the morose -legislator, Arabia has had its music and song. But music in Mohammedan -lands is ever in spite of their religion, and is never, as is the case -with Christianity, fostered by it. - -Among the ancient Arabs poetry and song were closely related. The -poet recited or chanted his own compositions in the evening mejlis, -or more frequently at the public fairs and festivals, especially the -national one held annually at Okatz. Here it was that the seven noble -fragments still extant of their earliest literature were first read -and applauded, and accounted worthy (if this part of the story be not -fabulous) to be suspended, written in gold, in the Kaaba. - -It is unfortunate that the Arabs, with all their wealth of language -and literature, have no musical notation, so that we can only surmise -what their ancient tunes may have been. Were the early war songs of -Omar and Khalid sung in the same key as this modern war chant of the -Gomussa tribe, as interpreted by Lady Ann Blunt? - -[Illustration: Music score] - -[Illustration: Music score] - -And did Sinbad the sailor sing the same tune on his voyages down the -Persian Gulf to India which now the Lingah boatmen lustily chant as -they land the cargo from a British India steamer? Or was it like -this sailors’ song on the Red Sea? To both of these questions the -only answer is the unchangeableness of the Orient; and this puts the -probability, at least, so far that the sailors of to-day could easily -join in Sinbad’s chorus. - -The people of Jauf, in Northern Arabia, are most famous for music at -the present day, according to Burckhardt. They are especially adept -at playing the _Rebaba_. This may well be considered the national -instrument of music. It is all but universal in every part of the -peninsula, and as well-known to all Arabs as the bag pipe is to the -Scotch. I have heard the highland shepherd boys of Yemen play on a set -of reed-pipes rudely fastened together with bits of leather thong. -The drum _tabl_, is common among the town Arabs, and is used at their -marriage and circumcision feasts; but all over the desert one only -hears the rebaba. It is simplicity itself in its construction, when -made by the Bedouins; the finer ornamental ones are from the cities. A -box frame is made ready, a stick is thrust through, and in this they -pierce an eye-hole for a single peg; a kidskin is then stretched upon -the hollow box; the string is plucked from a mare’s tail, and setting -under it a bent twig for the bridge, their music is ready. - -Time and measure are often very peculiar and hard to catch, but they -are kept most accurately, and Ali Bey gives an example which he says, -“exhibits the singularity of a bar divided into five equal portions, a -thing which J.J. Rousseau conceived to be practicable, but was never -able to accomplish.” Here it is as he gives it; it strikingly resembles -the boatmen’s song at Bahrein: - -[Illustration: Music score] - -The singing one commonly hears, however, is much more monotonous than -this, and the tune nearly always depends on the whim of the performer -or singer, sometimes, alas, on his inability to give more than a -certain number of variations! - -Antar, one of their own poets, has said that the song of the Arabs is -like the hum of flies. A not inapt comparison to those who have seen -the “fly bazaar” in Hodeidah or Menamah during the date season, and -heard their myriad-mouthed buzzing. Antar, however, lived in the “times -of ignorance,” and most probably referred to the chanting of the camel -drivers, which is bad enough. Imagine the following sung in a high -monotonous key with endless repetition. - - “Ya Rub sallimhum min el tahdeed - Wa ija’ad kawaihum ’amd hadeed.” - -That is to say, being freely interpreted: - - “Oh Lord, keep them from all dangers that pass - And make their long legs pillars of brass.” - -To a stranger that which seems most peculiar in Arab song is their -long drawn-out tones at the close of a bar or refrain, sometimes -equivalent to three whole notes or any number of beats. Doughty did -not appreciate it, apparently, for he writes “Some, to make the -stranger cheer, chanted to the hoarse chord of the Arab viol, making -to themselves music like David, and drawing out the voice in the nose -to a demensurate length, which must move our yawning or laughter.” -There are, however, singers and singers. I remember a ruddy Yemen lad -who sang us _kasidahs_ during a heavy rain-storm in an old Arab café -near Ibb. The singer was master of his well-worn rebaba, and its music -seemed to overmaster him. Now his hand touched the strings gently, and -then again swept over them with a strong nervous motion, awakening -music indeed. His voice, too, was clear and sweet, although I was -not enough versed in Arabic poetry to catch the full meaning of his -words. It may have been the surroundings or the jovial companionship -of friendly Arabs after my Taiz seclusion and a weary journey up the -mountain passes, but I have never heard sweeter music in Arabia, and -have often heard worse elsewhere. God bless that travelling troubadour -of Yemen! - -Here is a Mecca song for female voices, as given by Ali Bey in his -travels (1815), and a second sung by the women of Hejaz in a more -monotonous strain: - -[Illustration: Music Score] - -Such songs are called _asamer_; love-songs are called _hodjeiny_, -and the war song is known as _hadou_. Arabic prosody and the science -of metres is exceedingly extensive and seemingly difficult. What we -call rhyme is scarcely known, and yet every verse ends with the same -syllable in a stanza of poetry. - -In Mecca as well as in other “religious” centres there is a sort of -sacred-music of which Hurgronje gives several specimens. They are -chants in honor of the prophet or prayers for him which are sung at the -_Moleeds_ or festivals in memory of Mohammed. Here are two of them. - -[Illustration: Music score. Interspersed with text. - - {Sal la ’llah a la Mu-hammad - {Pray for mo-ham-med, O God, - - Sal-la ’llah ’a-laih-wa-sal-lam - Pray, O God, for him and peace. -] - -[Illustration: ditto - - Mar-ha-ba-ya, nur-el ain-ni mar-ha-ba - mar-ha-ba jid el Hu-sain-i mar-ha-ba - mar-ha-ba ya mar-ha-ba-ya, mar-ha-ba-a-a-a-a. - - -Most generally, however, music is looked upon as decidedly secular, -especially all instrumental music. The desert Arabs know no religious -song and only sing of love and war in their old wild way. It is only -at a distance from the mosque and away with the caravan, that Ghanim -clears his throat and sings in a voice that can be heard for a mile as -we leave him behind: - -[Illustration: Music score] - -The Arabs of the desert have a reading-book all their own called -_Athar_; and a writing all their own called _wasm_. No Bedouin so -ignorant but he can read _Athar_ and none so dull but he can write his -_wasm_. - -[Illustration: TRIBAL MARKS or WASMs of the ARABS.] - -_Athr_ or _ilm el athar_ is the science of footsteps; and like the free -Indians of America, the Arab is keen to study and quick to judge from -sand tracks of both men and animals. The genuine Arab who has made -_athar_ a study can tell the track of a friend from that of a foe, and -can distinguish the tribe or even the clan; he knows from the depth of -the footprint whether the camel was loaded or lame; whether the man -passed yesterday or a week before; from the regularity or irregularity -he judges of fatigue or of pursuit. If the camel’s forefeet dig deeper -than the hind he concludes the animal had a weak breast; from the offal -he knows whence the camels came and the character of their pasture. -Burckhardt writes of instances where camels were traced six days’ -journeys after being stolen, and identified. - -To identify property it must be marked, therefore, the kindred science -of _wasm_ has its place. A _wasm_ is a Bedouin trade-mark or ideograph -to label his property, real and personal. Their origin is unknown, -although Doughty says that they ofttimes resemble Himyaritic letters -and may therefore come from Yemen. Each family or tribe has its own -cattle-brand or token. Not only is personal property such as cattle -marked with the _wasm_ but the Bedouin put their mark on rocks near -favorite wells or pastures. These signs are the only certain records -of former occupation of tribes. Many of the tribes have two or three -different _wasms_; these belong to family groups. - -The medical knowledge and medical treatment of the Arabs deserve some -notice. The Arabs think themselves always ailing and never fail to -consult a _hakim_ or doctor when there is opportunity. The hakeem is -supposed to know both their malady and its cure by simple observation; -to tell the physician for what cause they seek him would be an insult -to his wisdom and for him to ask them settles the matter that he is -not a true hakeem. The common diseases of Arabia are the following, -according to Arab nomenclature:—_El Kibd_, _i. e._, the liver, or all -visceral infirmities; _er rihh_, literally, “the wind,” or rheumatics -and neuralgia; _humma_, fevers; _tahāl_ or ague-cake; _el-hasa_ or -stone; ophthalmia; “fascination” or hysterics, (as when they say a man -has a jinn or a child has been looked at by the evil-eye); leprosy, -phthisis, dropsy, stranguria, ulcers and senile itch. For any and all -of these ailments, beside others not so common, yet sometimes epidemic -like smallpox and cholera, the Arabs seek a hakeem. All medicine, save -amulets, charms and exorcisms, is called _dawa_. Their pharmacopia is -not large but quite remarkable; in addition to such simple herbs of the -desert as their hareem collect and dry they use in grave emergencies -that which is harām (forbidden) and unclean. Patients have come to me -for a small piece of swine’s flesh (which they suppose all Christians -eat) to cure one in desperate straits. Doughty tells how among the -Bedouins they give the sick to eat of the carrion-eagle and even seethe -asses’ dung for a potion. - -_Kei_ or actual cautery is a favorite cure for all sorts of diseases; -so also is _khelal_ or perforating the skin surface with a red-hot iron -and then passing a thread through the hole to facilitate suppuration. -Scarcely one Arab in a hundred who has not some _kei_-marks on his -body; even infants are burned most cruelly in this way to relieve -diseases of childhood. Where _kei_ fails they have resource to words -written on paper either from the Koran, or, by law of contraries, -words of evil, sinister import. These the patient “takes” either by -swallowing them, paper and all, or by drinking the ink-water in which -the writing is washed off. Blood-letting is also a sovereign remedy for -many troubles. The Arab barber is at once a phlebotomist, cauterizer, -and dentist. His implements—one can hardly call them instruments—are -very crude and he uses them with some skill but without any mercy. -Going to the proper place in any large Arab town you may always see -a row of men squatting down with bent back to be bled; cupping and -scarifying are the two methods most in vogue, although some are quite -clever in opening a vein. The science of medicine in the towns is -not much in advance of that of the desert—more book-talk but even -less natural intelligence. A disease to be at all respectable must be -connected with one of the four temperaments or “humors of Hippocrates.” - -Medicines are hot and cold, wet and dry; and the same fourfold -classification distinguishes all ailments. There are four elements -only, and the stars must be favorable to induce a rapid cure. Whatever -is prescribed must be solid and material; if it is bitter and painful -so much the better. Rough measures act more strongly on the imagination -and faith-cure is a reality in such cases. Burton gives this sample of -a correct prescription: - - “A.”[100] - - “In the name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful, and blessings - and peace be upon our Lord the apostle and his family and his - companions one and all. But afterward let him take bees-honey and - cinnamon and album græcum of each half a part and of ginger a whole - part, which let him pound and mix with the honey and form boluses, - each bolus the weight of a Mithkal, and of it let him use every day a - Mithkal, on the saliva, (that is to say, fasting, the first thing in - the morning). Verily its effects are wonderful. And let him abstain - from flesh, fish, vegetables, sweetmeats, flatulent food, acids of all - descriptions, as well as the major ablution and live in perfect quiet. - So shall he be cured by the help of the King the healer, _i. e._, the - Almighty. And the peace.” - -Honey has always been a panacea in Arabia on authority of the Koran and -tradition. The only reference to medicine in the revelation of Mohammed -is this ignorant statement: “From the bee’s belly comes forth a fluid -of variant hue which yieldeth medicine to man.” (Surah xvi. 71.) -This being the only remedy prescribed by Allah, it is no wonder that -tradition affirms its efficacy as follows: “A man once came to Mohammed -and told him that his brother was afflicted with a violent pain in his -belly; upon which the prophet bade him give him some honey. The fellow -took his advice but soon came again and said that the medicine had done -no good. Mohammed answered: ‘Go and give him more honey, for God speaks -truth and thy brother’s belly lies,’ and the dose being repeated the -man was cured.”[101] Coriander-seeds, peppermint, cinnamon, senna, -iris-root, saffron, aloes, nitrates, arsenious-earth, pomegranate-rind, -date-syrup and vinegar—such are some of the common household remedies -of Arabia. All Arab women profess a knowledge of herbs and the art of -healing so that the “hakeem” can scarcely make a living if he clings -solely to his profession. A Mecca “M.D.,” says Hurgronje, was also -watch-maker, gun-smith and distiller of perfume; to fill up his idle -hours he did a little silver-plating and dealt in old coins! Yet this -man was at the head of the profession in Mecca and was able, so they -said, to transmute the base metals and write very powerful charms. - -The following are used as amulets in Arabia: a small Koran suspended -from the shoulder; a chapter written on paper and folded in a leather -case; some names of God or their numerical values; the names of the -prophet and his companions; greenstones without inscriptions; beads, -old coins, teeth, holy earth in small bags. Amulets are not only worn -by the Arabs themselves and to protect their children from the evil-eye -but are put on camels, donkeys, horses, fishing-boats and sometimes -over the doors of their dwellings. The Arabs are very superstitious -in every way. In Hejaz if a child is very ill the mother takes seven -flat loaves of bread and puts them under its pillow; in the morning -the loaves are given to the dogs—and the child is not always cured. -Rings are worn against the influence of evil-spirits; incense or -even-smelling compounds are burned in the sick-room to drive away -the devil; mystic symbols are written on the walls for a similar -purpose. Love-philtres are everywhere used and in demand; and nameless -absurdities are committed to insure successful child-birth. The -child-witch, called _Um-el subyan_, is feared by all mothers; narcotics -are used freely to quiet unruly infants and, naturally, mortality is -very large. Of surgery and midwifery the Arabs as a rule are totally -ignorant and if their medical-treatment is purely ridiculous their -surgery is piteously cruel, although never intentionally so. In all -eastern Arabia _blind_ women are preferred as midwives, and rock-salt -is used by them against puerpural hemmorrhage. Gunshot-wounds are -treated in Bahrein by a poultice of dates, onions and tamarind; and the -accident is guarded against in the future by wearing a “lead-amulet.” - -There are many other superstitions in no way connected with the -treatment of the sick. Tree-worship and stone-worship still exist in -many parts of Arabia in spite of the so-called “pure monotheism” of -Islam. Both of these forms of worship date back to the time of idolatry -and remain as they were partly by the sanction of Mohammed himself, for -did he not make a black-pebble in the Kaaba, the centre of his system -of prayer? Sacred trees are called _Manahil_, places where angels or -jinn descend; no leaf of such trees may be plucked and they are honored -with sacrifices of shreds of flesh, while they look gay with bits of -calico and beads which every worshipper hangs on the shrine. Just -outside of the Mecca gate at Jiddah stands one of these rag-trees with -its crowd of pilgrims; in Yemen they are found by every wayside.[102] - - - - - XXVIII - - THE STAR-WORSHIPPERS OF MESOPOTAMIA[103] - - “In a remote period of antiquity Sabeanism was diffused over Asia - by the science of the Chaldeans and the arms of the Assyrians. They - adored the seven gods or angels who directed the course of the seven - planets and shed their irresistible influence on the earth.... They - prayed thrice each day, and the temple of the moon at Haran was the - term of their pilgrimage.”—_Gibbon._ - - -In the towns along the lower Euphrates and Tigris, especially at Amara, -Suk es Shiukh, Busrah and Mohammerah, there dwell an interesting -people, variously known as Sabeans, Nasorians, or St. John Christians. -They call themselves Mandæans, and though numbering only four or five -thousand, they are and have always been entirely distinct from the -Jews, Moslems and Christians among whom they have dwelt for centuries. -Their origin is lost in obscurity although the few scholars who have -studied the subject trace their history through the maze of their -religion to ancient Babylonia and Chaldea. In this remnant of a race -and religion we seem to have an example of the oldest form of idolatry, -Star-worship, and many of their mysterious customs may throw a -side-light upon the cult of ancient Babylonia. Mandæism is not only of -deep interest as “the only existing religion compounded of Christian, -heathen and Jewish elements,”[104] but it affords another proof of -the early spread of religious ideas in the East, and the Babylonian -origin of much that is supposed to be Alexandrian Gnosticism in a -semi-Christian, semi-pagan garb. - -In the English Bible the name _Sabeans_ is perplexing, and although -used of three different tribes or peoples, none of these are any way -related to the present Mandæans unless those mentioned in Job. Sabean -is also the term used in the Koran, where it undoubtedly applies to the -people and proves that when Islam arose their numbers and settlements -were far from unimportant. The Koran recognizes them as distinct from -idolaters, and places them with Jews and Christians as people of the -book.[105] From this it is evident that the Sabeans could not have -been, as some allege, a minor Christian sect or identical with the -Hemero-Baptists. Although giving special honor to John the Baptist, -_they can in no sense be called Christians_. - -Isolated by a creed, cult and language of their own, the Sabeans[106] -love their isolation and do not intermarry with strangers nor accept -a proselyte to their faith. Nearly all of them follow one of three -trades. They raise the finest dairy produce of Mesopotamia; they build -a peculiar kind of light canoe, called _Mashhoof_, and all others -are silver-smiths. No traveller should visit their villages without -carrying away specimens of their beautiful inlaid-work, black metal on -silver and gold. A peaceful people they are, industrious, though mostly -poor and seldom affording trouble to their Turkish rulers. Both men -and women have a remarkably fine physique; tall, of dark complexion, -good features, and with long black beards, some of the men are typical -patriarchs, even as we imagine Abraham who left their present country -for Haran. On ordinary days their dress does not distinguish them from -Moslems or Jews, but on feast days they wear only white. Their women go -about unveiled; they are rather taller and have a more masculine cast -of features than Moslem women. - -_Specimens of_ MANDÂITIC CURSIVE-SCRIPT _with transliteration and -translation_. - - [Mandâitic:] = Àssooda hāvilak = peace be to you. - - [Mandâitic:] = kethkŭm skawee = how much is it? - - [Mandâitic:] = ana libba kabeelak = I love you much. - - [Mandâitic:] = kasbah we dahwah = silver and gold. - - [Mandâitic:] = hofshaba rabba = great day (Sunday) - - [Mandâitic:] = atran hofshaba = Monday. - - [Mandâitic:] = aklatha = Tuesday. - - [Mandâitic:] = arba = Wednesday - - [Mandâitic:] = hamsha = Thursday. - - [Mandâitic:] = shitta = Friday. - - [Mandâitic:] = shuvah = Saturday. - -The two great things that distinguish the Sabeans are their language -and their religion. Both are remarkable. The former because of its -long preservation among a dying people, and the latter as the most -remarkable example of religious syncretism. - -Naturally the bazaar-talk of all the river-country is Arabic; all -Sabeans speak it and a goodly proportion read and write it; but beside -this they have a household language of their own, the language of their -sacred books, which is called Mandâitic. It is so closely related to -Syriac that it might almost be called a dialect, yet it has an alphabet -and grammar of its own, and their writing and speech is not fully -intelligible to the Syriac-speaking Christians from Mosul. Wright says -that their alphabet characters most resemble the Nabathean and their -language that of the Babylonian Talmud.[107] One peculiarity is the -naming of the letters with the ā vowel and not as in other Semitic -languages by special names. The oldest manuscripts of the Mandâitic -date from the sixteenth century, and are in European Libraries (Paris -and Oxford). But according to Nöldeke the golden period of their -literature, when their religious books received their final and -present form, was 650-900 A. D. At present few can read or write their -language, although all can speak it, and from religious motives they -refuse to teach those outside of their faith even the first lesson, -except secretly. - -Although meeting Sabeans for years and being their guest on frequent -journeys up and down the rivers, I could find no satisfactory answer -to the question what their real faith and cult were. The popular story -that they turn to the North Star when they pray and “baptise” every -Sunday was all that Moslems or Christians could tell. Books of travel -gave fragmentary, conflicting and often grossly erroneous statements. -According to some accounts they were idolaters, others classed them -with Christians. An anonymous article in the London _Standard_, Oct. -19, 1894, entitled, “A prayer meeting of the Star-worshippers,” -curiously gave me the key to open the lock of their silence. Whoever -wrote it must have been perfectly acquainted with their religious -ceremonies, for when I translated it to a company of Sabeans at Amara -they were dumbfounded. Knowing that I knew _something_ made it easy for -them to tell me more. The article referred to was in part as follows: - - “It happens to be the festival of the Star-worshippers celebrated on - the last day of the year and known as the _Kanshio Zahlo_, or day of - renunciation. This is the eve of the new year, the great watch-night - of the sect, when the annual prayer-meeting is held and a solemn - sacrifice made to Avather Ramo, the Judge of the under world, and - Ptahiel, his colleague; and the white-robed figures we observe down - by the riverside are those of members of the sect making the needful - preparations for the prayer-meeting and its attendant ceremonies. - - “First, they have to erect their _Mishkna_, their tabernacle or - outdoor temple; for the sect has, strange to say, no permanent house - of worship or meeting-place, but raise one previous to their festival - and only just in time for the celebration. And this is what they are - now busy doing within a few yards of the water, as we ride into the - place. The elders, in charge of a _shkando_, or deacon, who directs - them, are gathering bundles of long reeds and wattles, which they - weave quickly and deftly into a sort of basket work. An oblong space - is marked out about sixteen feet long and twelve broad by stouter - reeds, which are driven firmly into the ground close together, and - then tied with strong cord. To these the squares of woven reeds and - wattles are securely attached, forming the outer containing walls - of the tabernacle. The side walls run from north to south, and are - not more than seven feet high. Two windows, or rather openings for - windows, are left east and west, and space for a door is made on the - southern side, so that the priest when entering the edifice has - the North Star, the great object of their adoration, immediately - facing him. An altar of beaten earth is raised in the centre of the - reed-encircled enclosure, and the interstices of the walls well daubed - with clay and soft earth, which speedily hardens. On one side of the - altar is placed a little furnace of dark earthenware, and on the - other a little handmill, such as is generally used in the East for - grinding meal, together with a small quantity of charcoal. Close to - the southern wall, a circular basin is now excavated in the ground, - about eight feet across, and from the river a short canal or channel - is dug leading to it. Into this the water flows from the stream, and - soon fills the little reservoir to the brim. Two tiny cabins or huts, - made also of reeds and wickerwork, each just large enough to hold a - single person, are then roughly put together, one by the side of the - basin of water, the other at the further extremity of the southern - wall, beyond the entrance. The second of these cabins or huts is - sacred to the _Ganzivro_ or high priest of the Star-worshippers, and - no layman is ever allowed to even so much as touch the walls with his - hands after it is built and placed in position. The doorway and window - openings of the edifice are now hung with white curtains; and long - before midnight, the hour at which the prayer-meeting commences, the - little _Mishkna_, or tabernacle open to the sky, is finished and ready - for the solemnity. - - “Toward midnight the Star-worshippers, men and women, come slowly down - to the _Mishkna_ by the riverside. Each, as he or she arrives, enters - the tiny wattled hut by the southern wall, disrobes, and bathes in the - little circular reservoir, the _tarmido_, or priest, standing by and - pronouncing over each the formula, ‘_Eshmo d’haï, Eshmo d’manda haï - madhkar elakh_’ (‘The name of the living one, the name of the living - word, be remembered upon thee’). On emerging from the water, each one - robes him or herself in the _rasta_, the ceremonial white garments - peculiar to the Star-worshippers, consisting of a _sadro_, a long - white shirt reaching to the ground; a _nassifo_, or stole round the - neck falling to the knees; a _hiniamo_, or girdle of woollen material; - a _gabooa_, square headpiece, reaching to the eyebrows; a _shalooal_, - or white over-mantle; and a _kanzolo_, or turban, wound round the - _gabooa_ headpiece, of which one end is left hanging down over the - shoulder. Peculiar sanctity attaches to the _rasta_, for the garments - composing it are those in which every Star-worshipper is buried, and - in which he believes he will appear for judgment before Avather in the - nether world _Materotho_. Each one, as soon as he is thus attired, - crosses to the open space in front of the door of the tabernacle, and - seats himself upon the ground there, saluting those present with the - customary _Sood Havilakh_, ‘Blessing be with thee,’ and receiving in - return the usual reply, _Assootah d’haï havilakh_, ‘Blessing of the - living one be with thee.’ - - “The numbers increase as the hour of the ceremonial comes nearer, and - by midnight there are some twenty rows of these white-robed figures, - men and women, ranked in orderly array facing the _Mishkna_, and - awaiting in silent expectation the coming of the priests. A couple - of _tarmidos_, lamp in hand, guard the entry to the tabernacle, and - keep their eyes fixed upon the pointers of the Great Bear in the sky - above. As soon as these attain the position indicating midnight, the - priests give a signal by waving the lamps they hold, and in a few - moments the clergy of the sect march down in procession. In front are - four of the _shkandos_, young deacons, attired in the _rasta_, with - the addition of a silk cap, or _tagha_, under the turban, to indicate - their rank. Following these come four _tarmidos_, ordained priests - who have undergone the baptism of the dead. Each wears a gold ring on - the little finger of the right hand, and carries a tau-shaped cross - of olive wood to show his standing. Behind the _tarmidos_ comes the - spiritual head of the sect, the _Ganzivro_, a priest elected by his - colleagues who has made complete renunciation of the world and is - regarded as one dead and in the realms of the blessed. He is escorted - by four other deacons. One holds aloft the large wooden tau-cross, - known as _derashvod zivo_, that symbolizes his religious office; a - second bears the sacred scriptures of the Star-worshippers, the _Sidra - Rabba_, “the great Order,” two-thirds of which form the liturgy of the - living and one-third the ritual of the dead. The third of the deacons - carries two live pigeons in a cage, and the last a measure of barley - and of sesame seeds. - - “The procession marches through the ranks of the seated worshippers, - who bend and kiss the garments of the _Ganzivro_ as he passes near - them. The _tarmidos_ guarding the entrance to the tabernacle draw back - the hanging over the doorway and the priests file in, the deacons and - _tarmidos_ to right and left, leaving the _Ganzivro_ standing alone - in the centre, in front of the earthen altar facing the North Star, - Polaris. The sacred book _Sidra Rabba_ is laid upon the altar folded - back where the liturgy of the living is divided from the ritual of - the dead. The high priest takes one of the live pigeons handed to him - by a _shkando_, extends his hands toward the Polar Star upon which he - fixes his eyes, and lets the bird fly, calling aloud, ‘_Bshmo d’haï - rabba mshabbah zivo kadmaya Elaha Edmen Nafshi Eprah_,’ ‘In the name - of the living one, blessed be the primitive light, the ancient light, - the Divinity self-created.’ The words, clearly enunciated within, are - distinctly heard by the worshippers without, and with one accord the - white-robed figures rise from their places and prostrate themselves - upon the ground toward the North Star, on which they have silently - been gazing. - - “Noiselessly the worshippers resume their seated position on the - ground outside. Within the _Mishkna_, or tabernacle, the _Ganzivro_ - steps on one side, and his place is immediately taken by the senior - priest, a _tarmido_, who opens the _Sidra Rabba_ before him on the - altar and begins to read the _Shomhotto_, ‘confession’ of the sect, in - a modulated chant, his voice rising and falling as he reads, and ever - and anon terminating in a loud and swelling _Mshobbo havi eshmakhyo - Manda d’haï_, ‘Blessed be thy name, O source of life,’ which the - congregants without take up and repeat with bowed heads, their hands - covering their eyes. - - “While the reading is in progress two other priests turn, and prepare - the _Peto elayat_, or high mystery, as they term their Communion. One - kindles a charcoal fire in the earthenware stove by the side of the - altar, and the other grinds small some of the barley brought by the - deacon. He then expresses some oil from the sesame seed, and, mixing - the barley meal and oil, prepares a mass of dough which he kneads and - separates into small cakes the size of a two-shilling piece. These - are quickly thrust into or on the oven and baked, the chanting of the - liturgy of the _Shomhotto_ still proceeding with its steady sing-song - and response, _Mshobbo havi eshmakhyo_, from outside. The fourth - of the _tarmidos_ now takes the pigeon left in the cage from the - _shkando_, or deacon, standing near him, and cuts its throat quickly - with a very sharp knife, taking care that no blood is lost. The little - cakes are then brought to him by his colleague, and, still holding - the dying pigeon, he strains its neck over them in such a way that - four drops fall on each one so as to form the sacred _tau_, or cross. - Amid the continued reading of the liturgy, the cakes are carried round - to the worshippers outside by the two principal priests who prepared - them, who themselves pop them direct into the mouths of the members, - with the words ‘_Rshimot bereshm d’haï_,’ ‘Marked be thou with the - mark of the living one.’ The four deacons inside the _Mishkna_ walk - round to the rear of the altar and dig a little hole, in which the - body of the dead pigeon is then buried. - - “The chanting of the confession is now closed by the officiating - _tarmido_, and the high priest, the _Ganzivro_, resuming his former - place in front of the Sacred Book, begins the recitation of the - _Massakhto_, or ‘renunciation’ of the dead, ever directing his prayers - toward the North Star, on which the gaze of the worshippers outside - continues fixed throughout the whole of the ceremonial observances - and prayers. This star is the _Olma d’noora_, literally ‘the world - of light,’ the primitive sun of the Star-worshippers’ theogony, the - paradise of the elect, and the abode of the pious hereafter. For - three hours the reading of the ‘renunciation’ by the high priest - continues, interrupted only, ever and anon, by the _Mshobbo havi - eshmakhyo_, ‘Blessed be thy name,’ of the participants seated outside, - until, toward dawn, a loud and ringing _Ano asborlakh ano asborli ya - Avather_, ‘I mind me of thee, mind thou of me O Avather,’ comes from - the mouth of the priest, and signalizes the termination of the prayers. - - “Before the North Star fades in the pale ashen grey of approaching - dawn, a sheep, penned over night near the river, is led into the - tabernacle by one of the four _shkandos_ for sacrifice to Avather and - his companion deity, Ptahiel. It is a wether, for the Star-worshippers - never kill ewes, or eat their flesh when killed. The animal is laid - upon some reeds, its head west and its tail east, the _Ganzivro_ - behind it facing the Star. He first pours water over his hands, then - over his feet, the water being brought to him by a deacon. One of the - _tarmidos_ takes up a position at his elbow and places his hand on - the _Ganzivro’s_ shoulder, saying _Ana shaddakh_, ‘I bear witness.’ - The high priest bends toward the North Star, draws a sharp knife from - his left side, and, reciting the formula, ‘In the name of Alaha, - Ptahiel created thee, Hibel Sivo permitted thee, and it is I who slay - thee,’ cuts the sheep’s throat from ear to ear, and allows the blood - to escape on to the matted reeds upon which the animal is stretched - out. The four deacons go outside, wash their hands and feet, then flay - the sheep, and cut it into as many portions as there are communicants - outside. The pieces are now distributed among the worshippers, the - priests leave the tabernacle in the same order as they came, and with - a parting benediction from the _Ganzivro_, _Assootad d’hai havilakh_, - ‘The benison of the living one attend thee,’ the prayer-meeting - terminates, and the Star-worshippers quietly return to their homes - before the crimson sun has time to peep above the horizon.” - -What a mosaic of ceremonies and what a mixed cult in this river-bank -prayer-meeting! The Sabeans of Amara tell me that every minute -particular is correctly described, and yet themselves do not furnish -the clew to the maze. Here one sees Judaism, Islam and Christianity, as -it were engrafted on one old Chaldean trunk. Gnosticism, star-worship, -baptisms, love-feast, sacrifice, ornithomancy and what not in one -confusion. The pigeon sacrifice closely corresponds outwardly to -that of the Mosaic law concerning the cleansing of a leper and his -belongings and is perhaps borrowed from that source.[108] But how -Anti-Jewish is the partaking of blood and the star-worship.[109] The -cross of blood seems a Christian element, as does also the communion of -bread, but from a New Testament standpoint this is in discord with all -that precedes. - -Nevertheless a complete system of dogma lies behind this curious cult -and one can never understand the latter without the former. Sabeanism -is _a book religion_; and it has such a mass of sacred literature -that few have ever had the patience to examine even a part of it. -The _Sidra Rabba_, or Great Book, holds the first place. The copy I -examined contains over five hundred large quarto pages of text divided -into two parts, a “right” and a “left hand” testament; they begin at -different ends of the book and they are bound together so that when -one reads the “_right_,” the “_left_” testament is upside-down. The -other name for the Great Book is _Ginza_, Treasure. It is from this -treasure-house that we chiefly gather the elements of their cosmogony -and mythology.[110] - -First of all things was Pera Rabba the great Abyss. With him “Shining -ether” and the Spirit of Glory (_Mana Rabba_) form a primal triad, -similar to the Gnostic and ancient Accadian triads. Kessler goes so far -as to say that it is the same. From Mana Raba who is the king of light, -emanates _Yardana Rabba_, the great Jordan. (This is an element of -Gnosticism) Mana Rabba called into being the first of the æons, Primal -Life, or _Hayye kadema_. This is really the chief deity of the Sabeans, -and all their prayers begin by invoking him. From him again proceed -secondary emanations, _Yushamim_ (_i.e._, Jah of heaven) and _Manda -Hayye_, messenger of life. This latter is the mediator of their system, -and from him all those that accept his mediation are called _Mandäee_. -Yushamim was punished for attempting to raise himself above Primal -Light, and now rules the world of inferior light. Manda still “rests -in the bosom of Primal light” (_cf._ John i. 18), and had a series -of incarnations beginning with Abel (Hibil) and ending with John the -Baptist! Besides all these there is yet a third life called ’_Ateeka_, -who created the bodies of Adam and Eve, but could not give them spirit -or make them stand upright. If the Babylonian trinity or triad has its -counterpart in the Mandäen _Pera_, _Ayar_ and _Mana Rabba_, then _Manda -Hayye_ is clearly nothing but the old Babylonian Marduk (Merodach), -firstborn, mediator and redeemer. _Hibil_, the first incarnation of -Manda, also has a contest with darkness in the underworld even as -Marduk with the dragon Tiamat. - -The Sabean underworld has its score of rulers, among others these rank -first: _Zartay_, _Zartanay_, _Hag_, _Mag_, _Gaf_, _Gafan_, _Anatan_ -and _Kin_, with hells and vestibules in plenteous confusion. Hibil -descends here, and from the fourth vestibule carries away the female -devil _Ruha_ the daughter of Kin. This Ruha, Kessler affirms, is really -an anti-Christian parody of the Holy Spirit, but from conversation -with the Sabeans I cannot believe this to be true. By her own son _Ur_ -Ruha becomes the mother of all the planets and signs of the zodiac. -These are the source and controllers of all evil in the world and -must therefore be propitiated. But the sky and fixed stars are pure -and clear, the abode of Light. The central sun is the Polar Star, -with jewelled crown standing before the door of Abathūr, or “father -of the splendors.” These “splendors,” æons, or primary manifestations -of deity, are said to number three hundred and sixty, (a Semitic way -of expressing many), with names borrowed from the Parsee angelology -(Zoroastrianism). The Mandæans consider all the Old Testament saints -except Abel and Seth false prophets (Gnosticism).[111] True religion -was professed by the ancient Egyptians, who, they say, were their -ancestors. Another false prophet was _Yishu Mashiha_ (Jesus Christ), -who was in fact an incarnation of the planet Mercury. John the Baptist, -_Yahya_, appeared forty-two years before Christ and was really an -incarnation of Manda as was Hibil. He baptized at Jordan, and, by -mistake also administered the rite to Jesus. - -About 200 A. D., they say, there came into the world 60,000 saints -from Pharaoh’s host and took the place of the Mandæans who had been -extirpated. Is not this a possible allusion to the spread of the -Gnostic heresy and the coalescence of certain Gnostics with the -then Sabean community? They say that their high priest then had his -residence at Damascus; that is, their centre of religion was between -Alexandria and Antioch, the two schools of Gnosticism. - -Mohammed, according to their system, was the last false prophet, but -he was divinely kept from harming them, and they flourished to such an -extent that at the time of the Abbasides they had four hundred centres -of worship in Babylonia. - -The Mandæan priesthood has three grades; _tarmida_ or _ta’amida_ -(“disciple” or “baptism”), _shkanda_ (“deacons”), and the _Ganzivra_ -(“high priest,” literally the keeper of the Ginza or Great Book). The -late Ganzivra was Sheikh Yahya, a man of parts and well-versed in -their literature, who long lived at Suk-es-Shiukh. Their present high -priest is called Sheikh Sahn and was at one time imprisoned at Busrah -on charge of fomenting a rebellion of the Arab tribes near Kurna at the -junction of the Tigris and Euphrates. - -The Sabeans observe six great feasts beside their weekly sabbath -(Sunday). One of the feasts celebrates the victory of Abel in the world -of darkness, another the drowning of Pharaoh’s army, but the chief -feast, _Pantsha_, is one of Baptism. It is observed in summer, and all -Sabeans are obliged to be baptized by sprinkling three times a day for -five days. The regular Sunday baptisms by immersion in running water -are largely voluntary and meritorious: these latter correspond to the -Moslem laws of purifications and take place after touching a dead body, -the birth of a child, marriage, etc. - -The moral code of the Sabeans is that of the Old Testament in nearly -every particular. Polygamy is allowed to the extent of five wives, and -is even recommended in the Sidra Rabba but is seldom indulged in. They -do not circumcise; this is important, proving that they are not of -Arab origin. They have no holy places or churches except those we have -described which are built for a single night on the riverside. - -The story that they go on pilgrimage to Haran[112] and visit the -Pyramids as the tomb of Seth[113] is apparently a myth. They are -friendly to Christians of all sects and love to give the impression -that because they honor the Baptist they are more closely related to -us than are the Jews and Moslems. Of course they deny that they do not -accept Jesus as a true Prophet, as they do all those other articles of -their belief, which they deem wisest or safest to keep concealed. - -All our investigations end as we began, by finding that the Sabeans -“worship that which they know not,” and profess a creed whose origin -is hidden from them and whose elements, gathered from the four corners -of the earth, are as diverse as they are incongruous. Who is able to -classify these elements or among so much heterogeneous _débris_ dig -down to the original foundations of the structure? If we could, would -we not, as in so many other cases, come back to Babylonia and the -monuments? - -[Illustration: Page of script] - - - - - XXIX - - EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN ARABIA - - “And some fell among thorns.”—_Matthew_ xiii. 7. - - “But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat - and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up and brought - forth fruit then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the - house-holder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good - seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, - An enemy hath done this.”—_Matthew_ xiii. 25-28. - - -It is recorded in the Acts of the apostles that Arabians, or Arabian -proselytes, were present at the Jewish feast of Pentecost. We must -therefore go back to Apostolic times to find the beginnings of -Christianity in Arabia. Whether these Arabians were from the northern -part of the peninsula bordering on Syria, from the dominions of the -Arabian king Hareth (Aretas), or came as Jewish proselytes from distant -Jewish colonies of Yemen, must ever remain uncertain. In any case they -doubtless carried back to their homes something of the Pentecostal -message or blessing. The New Testament references to Arabia are not -disconnected and unique, but stand in closest relation to the whole Old -Testament revelation of God’s dealings with Ishmael and his descendants. - -In Paul’s letter to the Galatians,[114] he writes, “Neither went I -up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went to -Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.” What did the great apostle -to the Gentiles do in Arabia? A consideration of this question will -give us a better standpoint to review the later rise of Christianity -not only in North Arabia, but in Nejran and Yemen. “A veil of thick -darkness,” says Lightfoot, “hangs over St. Paul’s visit to Arabia.” -The particular part of Arabia visited, the length of his stay, the -motive of his going, the route taken and what he did there,—all is -left untold. We can draw the map and tell the story of all but the -first great journey of the apostle. Certainly the first journey of the -new Saul of Tarsus cannot have been without some great purpose. The -probable length of his stay, which is by some put at only six months, -but which may have been two years,[115] would also indicate some -importance in the event. - -Visions and revelations to this Elijah and Moses of the new -dispensation there may have been while he tarried in the desert, but -it is scarcely probable to suppose that at this critical juncture in -early church history so long a time should have been occupied with -these only. Therefore, we find the earliest commentators of the opinion -that Paul’s visit to Arabia was his first missionary journey, and -that he “conferred not with flesh and blood,” but went into Arabia -to preach the gospel.[116] “See how fervent was his soul,” says -Chrysostom, “he was eager to occupy lands yet untilled, he forthwith -attacked a barbarous and savage people, choosing a life of conflict and -much toil.” The idea that Paul went to preach immediately after his -conversion is natural; and that he should, as the Gentile apostle, seek -first that race which was also a son of Abraham and heir of many Old -Testament promises and whose representatives were present at Pentecost, -is not improbable. - -But if Paul went to Arabia and preached the gospel, where and to -whom did he go? A certain reply to these questions is unattainable -since revelation is silent, but (1) The place was most probably the -Sinaitic peninsula, or the region east of Sinai (Rawlinson). (2) There -is more than one reason to hold with Jerome and later writers that he -went to a tribe where his mission was unsuccessful as regards visible -results. (3) The only people of the desert then, as now, were Arab -Bedouin, and of the probability that Paul also knew their life and -customs, Robertson Smith gives a curious illustration in an allusion to -Galations vi. 17, when speaking of tattoo marks in religion.[117] - -Now was there an Arab tribe in the days of Paul, in the region -southwest of Damascus, to whom a missionary came with a new and strange -message which was not favorably received, and yet whom and whose -message those Arabs could not forget? - -We find a curious legend taken up with other nomad débris into the -maelstrom of Mohammed’s mutterings that may help to answer the -question. It is about the Nebi Salih or “good prophet,” who came to -the people of Thamud,[118] and whose person and mission is as much a -mystery to Moslem commentators as Paul’s visit to Arabia is to us. -European critics suggest his identity with Shelah of Genesis xi. 13! -but etymology and chronology both afford the most meagre basis. Palmer -offers a theory that Nebi Salih is none other than the “righteous -prophet” Moses;[119] but the difficulty is that this puts the legend -too far back in history. It is not probable that the people of Thamud -“hewed out mountains into houses,” such as are found to-day as early as -in the days of Moses. Nor does Old Testament indicate a time when Moses -went to Arabs with a Divine message. Moreover, the legend is evidently -a _local_ one that came to the knowledge of Mohammed, or it would -have been better known to him who borrowed so largely from the former -prophets; and if it is a _local_ legend, it is not a legend of Moses, -for he is mentioned more than seventy-seven times in the Koran, and -his story was well known in Arabia, at least as far as Yemen. - -The pith of the legend underlies the bark; what says the Koran? Nebi -Salih came as a “brother,”[120] and said, “O, my people, worship God. -Ye have no God but Him.[121] There has come to you an evident sign -from your Lord.[122] ... And remember how He made you vice-regents -after ’Ad, and stablished you in the earth ... and remember the -benefits of God.[123] Said the chiefs of those who were big with -pride _from amongst his people_ (Pharisees or Jews from Damascus?) to -those who believed amongst them: Do ye know that Salih is sent from -his Lord? (_i. e._, his Lord is not your true God). They said, We do -believe in that with which He is sent, (gospel?) “Said those who were -big with pride, Verily, in what ye do believe we disbelieve.” The -passage is again significant: “And he turned away from them (back to -Damascus?) and said, O, my people, I did preach unto you the message -of my Lord,[124] and I gave you good advice, but ye love not sincere -advisers.” Does not this story have points of contact with what might -have been the experiences of a man like Paul among such a people? - -The fact that there is a so-called tomb of Nebi Salih at El Watiyeh -(Palmer) does not weigh much for or against any theory as to the -identity of the prophet. Arabia has tombs of Job on the Upper -Euphrates, of Eve at Jiddah, of Cain at Aden, and of other “prophets” -where there is a demand for it. But it is interesting to learn from the -learned author of _The Desert of the Exodus_: “The origin and history -of Nebi Salih is quite unknown to the present Bedouin inhabitants, but -they nevertheless regard him with more national veneration than even -Moses himself.” If revered more than Moses, why not was he later than -Moses—greater than Moses—even _Saul of Tarsus_? Whether this theory be -only far-fetched or whether it has confirmation in the early spread of -Christianity in North Arabia the sequel may show. - -Historical Christianity in Arabia had two centres, so that the study -of its early rise and progress takes us first to the tribes furthest -north, in the kingdoms of Hirah and Ghassan and then to fertile Yemen -and Nejran. - -Despite the growth of the Roman Empire eastward in the days of Pompey, -the Arabs of Syria and Palmyra retained their independence and resisted -all encroachment. Under Odenathus the Palmyrene kingdom flourished, -and reached the zenith of its power under his wife and successor, the -celebrated Zenobia. She was defeated by Aurelian, and Palmyra and its -dependencies became a province of the Roman Empire. It is natural -therefore to expect that Christianity was introduced into this region -at an early period. Such was the case. Agbarus, so celebrated in the -annals of the early church, was a prince of the territory of Edessa -and Christianity had made some progress in the desert in the time -of Arnobius.[125] Bishops of Bostra, in Northwest Arabia (not to be -confounded with Busrah), are mentioned as having been present at the -Nicene council (325 A. D.) with five other Arabian bishops.[126] The -Arabian historians speak of the tribe of Ghassan as attached to the -Christian faith centuries before the Hegira. It was of this tribe that -the proverb became current: “They were lords in the days of ignorance -and stars of Islam.” They held sway over the desert east of Palestine -and of Southern Syria. The name of Mavia or Muaviah is mentioned by -ecclesiastical writers as an Arab queen who was converted to the faith -and in consequence formed an alliance with the emperor and accepted a -Christian Bishop, named Moses, ordained by the primate of Alexandria. -Her conversion took place about A. D. 372. Thus we find that the -progress of Christianity increased in proportion as the Arabs became -more intimately connected with the Romans. - -An unfortunate circumstance for the progress of Christianity in North -Arabia was its location between the rival powers of Rome and Persia. It -was a sort of buffer-state and suffered from both sides. The Persian -monarchs persecuted the Christian Arabs and one of their Arab allies, a -pagan, called Naaman, forbade all intercourse with Christians, on the -part of his subjects. This edict we are told[127] was occasioned by the -success of the example and preaching of Simeon Stylites, the pillar -saint, celebrated in Tennyson’s picture-poem. This desert-friar who was -himself an Arab by birth, was a preacher after the heart of the stern, -austere, half-starved Bedouin. His fame spread even into far-off Arabia -Felix.[128] The stern edict of Naaman was withdrawn, however, and he -himself was only prevented from embracing the faith by his fear of the -Persian king. - -Among the first monks to preach to the nomad tribes was Euthymius who -seems to have been a medical missionary working miracles of healing -among the ignorant Bedouins. One of the converted Arabs, Aspebetus, -took the name of Peter, was “consecrated” by Juvenal, patriarch -of Jerusalem, and became the first bishop of the tribes in the -neighborhood of Southern Palestine. - -The progress or even the existence of Christianity in the kingdom -of Hirah seems to have been always uncertain as it was dependent on -the favor of the Khosroes of Persia. Some of the Arabs at Hirah and -Kufa were Christian as early as 380 A. D. One of the early converts, -Noman abu Kamus, proved the sincerity of his faith by melting down a -golden statue of the Arabian Venus, worshipped by his tribe, and by -distributing the proceeds among the poor. Many of the tribe followed -his example and were baptized.[129] To understand the importance of -this spread of Christianity in North Arabia we must remember that this -was the age of caravans and not of navigation. Palmyra, the centre of -the trade from the Persian Gulf, owed its importance and power to the -trans-Arabian traffic with Persia and the East. Irak and Mesopotamia -were then a part of Arabia and were ruled by Arabian dynasties. - -It was in Southwestern Arabia, however, that Christianity exerted even -greater power and made still larger conquests. We cannot but wish that -the story of its success, trials and extinction had been given us in -some purer form with more of the gospel and less of ecclesiasticism. -Had that early Christianity been gold instead of glitter it would not -have perished so easily in the furnace of persecution or disappeared so -utterly before the tornado-blast of Islam. - -The picture of the Christian church of this period (323-692 A. D.) as -drawn by faithful historians is dark indeed. “More and more the church -became assimilated and conformed to the world, church discipline grew -lax, and moral decay made rapid progress. Passionate contentions, -quarrels and schisms among bishops and clergy filled also public -life with party-strife, animosity and bitterness. The immorality -of the court poisoned the capital and the provinces. Savagery and -licentiousness grew rampant.... Hypocrisy and bigotry took the place -of piety among those who strove after something higher, while the -masses consoled themselves with the reflection that every man could -not be a monk.... The shady side of this period is dark enough but a -bright side and noble personages of deep piety, moral earnestness, -resolute denial of self and the world are certainly not wanting.”[130] -Not only was religious life at a low level in all parts of christendom -but heresies were continually springing up to disturb the peace or to -introduce gigantic errors. Arabia was at one time called “the mother -of heresies.” The most flagrant example was that of the Collyridians, -in the fourth century, which consisted in a heathenish distortion of -mariolatry. Cakes were offered to the Holy Virgin, as in heathen times -to Ceres. - -At what time Christianity was first introduced into Arabia Felix is -uncertain. This part of Arabia was in a measure shut off from the -world of the Romans until the expedition of Ælius Gallus. Before the -coming of Christianity the Yemenites were either idolaters or Sabeans. -The large numbers of Jews in Yemen was an additional obstacle to the -early spread of the faith as they were always bitterly hostile to -the missionaries. The legend that St. Bartholomew preached in Yemen -on his way to India need not be considered; nor the more probable -one of Frumentius and his success as first bishop to Himyar. In the -reign of Constantius, Theophilus, the deacon of Nicomedia, a zealous -Arian, was sent by the emperor to attend a magnificent embassy to the -court of Himyar and is said to have prevailed on the Arabian king to -embrace Christianity. He built three churches in different parts of -Yemen, at Zaphar, Aden and Sana, as well as at Hormuz in the Persian -Gulf. No less than four bishoprics were established and the tribes -of Rabia Ghassan, and Kodaa were won to the faith. Ibn Khalikan, the -Arabian historian, enumerates as Christian tribes, the Bahrah, Tanoukh -and Taglab. In Nejran, north of Sana, and Yathrib there were also -Christians. - -Arabian idolatry was very tolerant and afforded throughout the -third and fourth centuries an equally safe asylum to the persecuted -Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians who settled in various parts of the -Peninsula. The kings of Himyar were themselves idolaters but allowed -every other sect great freedom, including the Christians. But no sooner -did the followers of Judaism gain power than persecution began. About -the year 560, Dzu Nowass, ruler of Himyar, revolted against his lord -the Abyssinian king, Elesbaan, and, instigated by the Jews, began to -persecute the Christians. All who refused to renounce their faith were -put to death without respect of age or sex, and the villages of Nejran -were given over to plunder. Large pits were dug, filled with fuel, and -many thousands of monks and virgins were committed to the flames. - -Speedy punishment, however, overtook Dzu Nowass when the Abyssinian -hosts invaded Yemen. The Christian conquerors avenged the massacre on -its perpetrators, the Jews, with heathen fury. The whole fertile tract -was once more a scene of bloodshed and devastation. The churches built -before the days of Dzu Nowass were again rebuilt on the site of their -ruins and new bishops were appointed in place of the martyrs. A short, -though desperate, civil war, resulting in the proclamation of Abraha -as king of Yemen, did not disturb the steady growth of Christianity. -Paying tribute only to the Abyssinian crown, and at peace with all the -Arab tribes, Abraha was loved for his justice and moderation by all his -subjects and idolized by the Christians for his burning zeal in their -religion. Large numbers of Jews, convinced by a public dispute and a -miracle at Dhafar, were baptized. Many idolaters were added to the -church; new schemes of benevolence were inaugurated; the foundations -were being laid for a magnificent cathedral at Sana; in short Christian -Yemen seemed at the dawn of its Golden Age in the year 567 A. D. - -What delayed its coming and how did the power of Abraha lose its -prestige? The story is gleaned from Moslem and Christian writers; it -is the last sad chapter in the short history of early Christianity in -Arabia and the preface to the chronicles of Islam. So important is it -considered that the synopsis of it is embodied in the Koran for the -perpetual delight of Moslems. (Surah of the Elephant.) - -In the early fall of the year 568, the caravans of Arabs, which came -along the level road leading from Rhoda, bordered with rich vineyards -and fig-orchards, stopped, on entering Sana, because of a crowd that -stood gazing at a large piece of parchment nailed on the side wall of -the entrance to the city. It was a royal proclamation written in large -Himyaritic letters. A townsman in the long dress of a public teacher -stood before it and read aloud to the motley crowd that paused as -they came to morning market from the neighboring villages. Stately -camels, bearing huge loads of dates, were urged by their drivers, who -good-humoredly exchanged greetings with their Christian brethren; -donkeys, nearly hidden between baskets of luscious grapes, jostled a -group of Jewish money-changers sitting in the gate; a score of women, -dark-eyed and in picturesque peasant dress, were carrying their empty -gerbies to the wells—but one and all moved with curiosity, stood for a -moment to listen. - -The presbyter, for such he was, read as follows: - -“I, Ibraha, by the grace of God and Jesus Christ our Saviour, king of -Yemen, taking counsel and advice of the good Gregentius, bishop of -Dhafar, and having completed the building of the cathedral to the glory -of God and in memory of our victory over the idolaters, do now and -hereby proclaim that all the Arab tribes who annually visit the heathen -shrine at Mecca, are expected to cease going thither and to come with -their caravans of merchandise to worship the true God, on a shorter and -more convenient journey to our magnificent church at Sana, the capital, -on penalty of a levy to be put by me on all caravans of tribes that -refuse to obey this proclamation. And be it furthermore known to all -the tribes of Koreish....” The reader was rudely interrupted by a party -of Bedouin who drove their dromedaries right through the gate and up -the street with such fury that some of the crowd barely escaped being -run over. - -“It is a troop of those accursed Kenanehs,” said Ibn Choza to his -companion. “They were born without manners—wild asses of the desert.” -“Yes,” answered the other; “and who insult our good king with their -nickname of El Ashram,—the split nosed,—because of the scar that -remains since his encounter with the heathen Aryat.” “If such as these, -Abood, do not obey this latest order from our Christian king, we’ll try -the spears of my Modarites, and then woe betide their caravans of semn -and their fertile palms. Not all the three hundred gods of the Kaabeh -could save them from the righteous wrath of Abraha.” - -The new cathedral, whose ruined foundations yet testify as to its size -and solidity, had been completed for some months, and on the morrow -the good bishop was expected from Dhafar to preach to the crowds that -thronged Yemen’s capital at the feast. This year more strangers than -ever before crowded the markets; many were come, in obedience to the -proclamation, even from distant Yathrib and from beyond Nejran, to -engage in commerce and religion at once,—the universal custom of the -Arabs. The autumn rains were over and a fresh breeze from Jebel Nokum -increased the cold, felt by such strangers especially, as came for the -first time from the hot coast to an elevation of 9,000 feet. - -Night fell on the towers and palaces of Sana, and there was no light in -the streets except that of stars shining with northern brilliancy from -between drifting clouds. Just before midnight, a solitary Arab hurried -along one of the narrow paths, too narrow to be called a street, which -led from the caravanseri to the church. His face and form were wrapped -in a long sheepskin cloak, but his erect bearing, vigorous step, and -the carved silver handle of the curved dagger, half hidden in his -belt, betrayed one of the Kenaneh tribe. Stealthily looking around, -he stopped before one of the windows of the cathedral; lifted himself -to the granite ledge, dextrously used his dagger to remove one of the -large panes of talc-stone (still used in all Sana), and jumped inside. -He lingered only a few moments, came out as he went in, and hurried off -toward the way of the North gate. - -On the morrow a cry arose from the early worshippers, carried on the -lips of every Christian in Sana, till it echoed through market and -street: “_Abraha’s church has been defiled!_ Dung is on the altar, and -the holy cross is smeared with ordure! ’Tis the work of the accursed -Kenaneh—the signal of revolt for the idolaters of the North!” There was -tumult in Sana. In vain Gregentius endeavored to quiet the populace -by his eloquence. Adding fuel to the flame, came the news on the -same day of the defeat of the Modarites and the death of Ibn Choza, -whom the king had sent on an expedition to a rebellious tribe in Wady -Dauasir. Abraha’s wrath was doubly inflamed by the profanation of his -church and the death of his captain. He publicly vowed to annihilate -the idolatrous Koreish, as well as the Kenaneh, and to demolish their -temple at Mecca. Before nightfall that vow was the rallying-cry in the -soldiers’ quarter and the toast in every Jewish wine shop of Sana. - -The expedition was soon on its way. Abraha rode foremost, seated on -his milk-white elephant, caparisoned with plates of gold. On his head -was a linen cap covered with gold embroidery, and from which descended -four chains. He wore a loose tunic covered with pearls and Yemen akeek -stone, over his usual dress; while his muscular arms and short neck -were almost hidden with bracelets and chains of gold in the Abyssinian -pattern; for arms he had a shield and spears. After him came a band -of musicians, and then the nobles and warriors, under command of -the valiant Kais. Than him no better leader could have been chosen. -Mourning the untimely death of his brother, Ibn Choza, slain by the -treacherous arrow of Orwa, he sought a personal revenge even more than -the honor of his religion and his king, and was prepared to risk all -in fulfillment of the expedition. The army, increased by volunteers -at every village on their route, by forced marches over two hundred -miles of mountain road, reached Jebel Orra, weary and footsore. What is -only a usual journey to the Bedouin of the North, was a succession of -hardships to the Yemen troops, accustomed as they were to mountain air, -plenty of water and the rich fertility of their native valleys. No less -did the herd of elephants suffer from the fatigue of distance and the -scarcity of pasturage and water. Every day the advance was made with -increasing difficulty. - -Meanwhile the Koreish had not been idle. Rumor never runs faster than -in the desert. All those who loved Mecca, that oldest historic centre -of all Western Arabia, rallied to the standard of the Koreish. It was -the Kaaba, with its three hundred and sixty idols, against the Cross. -No sooner was Abraha’s approach known, than Dzu Neffer, Ibn Habib -and other chiefs at the head of the tribes of Hamedan and Chethamah -gathered to oppose the advance. A desperate conflict followed, but the -camels were frightened at the sight of the elephants, nor could the -desert Arabs withstand an assault of such large numbers. - -The news of defeat struck the Koreish with the greatest consternation, -and Abd-ul-Mutalib, grandfather of the future prophet, who was guardian -of the Kaaba, took council with all the chiefs of the allies. A swift -messenger was sent to Abraha offering a third part of the wealth of -all Hejaz as a ransom for the sacred Beit Ullah. The king, however, -was inflexible, and his followers cried: “Vengeance for the desecrated -Cross in our sanctuary! No ransom from the idolaters! Down with the -Kaaba!” Finally Abd-ul-Mutalib himself came to seek audience. He was -admitted to Abraha’s presence and honored with a seat by his side; but -Arab tradition says he came only to ask about the loss of some camels, -and told Abraha that the Lord of the Kaaba would defend it himself! -(Such sublime faith does Moslem tradition put into the mouth of the -prophet’s ancestors, even though the anachronism proves its falsehood.) - -On the following day Kais led the advance through the narrow valley -that leads into the city. Here a grievous surprise awaited the host -of The Elephant. To supplement the faith of Abd-ul-Mutalib, the Arabs -laid in ambush, and before day-dawn every one of the Koreish had -occupied his place on the heights on either side of the pass, hidden -behind the rough masses of boulder and trap that to this day make the -whole hillside a natural battery. No sooner had the elephants and -their riders entered the defile, than a shower of rocks and stones -was incessantly poured upon them by their assailants. The unwieldly -animals, mad with fright and pain, trampled the wounded to death, -and confusion was followed by headlong flight, although the unequal -contest lasted until sunset. It was the Thermopylæ of Arabian idolatry, -forever after celebrated in the Koran chapter of _The Elephant_. The -battle affords a miracle, however, to the Moslem commentator by the -easy change of a vowel, which makes “miraculous birds” with hell-stones -in their beaks God’s avengers, instead of the “camel-troops” of the -Koreish. Two months after the victory that prophet was born whose -character and career sealed the fate of early Christianity in Arabia, -already decided on the fatal day when Abraha mounted his elephant and -left Sana for revenge. - -The division of the Northern tribes between the Persians and Romans, -followed by the defeat of the Yemen hosts, brought anarchy to all -central Arabia. The idolaters of Hirah and Ghassan overran the south, -and the weak reign of Yeksoum, son of Abraha, could not stay the decay -of the Christian state. Even the Persian protectorate only delayed its -final fall. The sudden rise of Islam, with its political and social -preponderance, consummated the blow. “With the death of Mohammed,” says -Wright, “the last sparks of Christianity in Arabia were extinguished, -and it may be reasonably doubted whether any Christians were then left -in the whole peninsula.”[131] - -In 1888, Edward Glaser, the explorer, visited nearly every part of -Yemen and among his discoveries were many ancient inscriptions. From -Mareb, the old Sabean capital, he brought back over three hundred, one -of which dates from 542 A. D., and is considered by Professor Fritz -Hommel the latest Sabean inscription. It consists of one hundred and -thirty-six lines telling of the suppressed revolt against the Ethiopic -rule then established in Yemen. The inscription opens with the words: -“IN THE POWER OF THE ALL-MERCIFUL, AND HIS MESSIAH AND THE HOLY GHOST.” -This and the scarcely recognizable ruins of the cathedral at Sana are -the only remnants of Christianity that remain in Arabia Felix. - - - - - XXX - - THE DAWN OF MODERN ARABIAN MISSIONS - - “It surely is not without a purpose that this widespread and powerful - race [the Arabs] has been kept these four thousand years, unsubdued - and undegenerate, preserving still the vigor and simplicity of its - character. It is certainly capable of a great future; and as certainly - a great future lies before it. In may be among the last peoples - of Southwestern Asia to yield to the transforming influences of - Christianity and a Christian civilization. But to those influences it - will assuredly yield in the fullness of time.”—_Edson L. Clark._ - - “Every nation has its appointed time, and when their appointed time - comes they cannot keep it back an hour nor can they bring it on.”—_The - Koran._ - - -Islam dates from 622 A. D., but the first Christian missionary to -Mohammedans was Raymund Lull, who was stoned to death outside the -town of Bugia, North Africa, on June 30, 1315. He was also the first -and only Christian of his day who felt the extent and urgency of the -call to evangelize the Mohammedan world. His constant argument with -Moslem teachers was: Islam is false and must die. His devotion and -his pure character coupled with such intense moral earnestness won -some converts, but his great central purpose was to overthrow the -power of Islam as a system by logical demonstration of its error; -in this he failed. His two spiritual treatises are interesting, but -his _Ars Major_ would not convince a Moslem to-day any more than it -did in the fourteenth century. His life is of romantic interest and -his indefatigable zeal will always be a model and an inspiration to -missionaries among Moslems.[132] But he lived before his time and his -age was unworthy of him. - -Nothing was done to give the gospel to Arabia or the Mohammedans -from the time of Raymund Lull to that of Henry Martyn, the first -modern missionary to the Mohammedans. The histories of these two men -contain all that there is to be written about missionary work for the -Mohammedan world from 622 until 1812, so little did the Church of God -feel its responsibility toward the millions walking in darkness after -the false prophet. - -To the Protestant Church of the eighteenth century Arabia and the -Levant presented no attractions or appeal. The Turks, as representing -the Mohammedan world, were remembered as early as 1549, it is true, by -the English Book of Common Prayer, in the collect for Good Friday,[133] -(which dates from the Sarum Missal). No effort was made, however, to -carry the gospel to them or to any part of their empire, until long -after other far more distant regions had been reached. Even Carey -did not have the Moslem world on his large program. It was Claudius -Buchanan who first aroused an interest in the needs of the Moslem -world. On his return from India he told, on February 25, 1809, in his -sermon at Bristol, the story of two Moslem converts, one of whom had -died a martyr to Christ. In his _Christian Researches_ he propounds a -comprehensive scheme for the evangelization of the Levant. The Church -Missionary Society sent out missionaries, and in 1819 the American -Board began work for Moslems by sending Pliny Fisk and Levi Parsons to -Syria. - -This modern beginning of the gospel in Asia Minor had an indirect -bearing on the future evangelization of Arabia and was a part of the -Divine preparation. The journeys of Eli Smith and H. G. O. Dwight -brought the American churches face to face with the whole problem of -missions in that region. The Syrian Mission through its press at Malta -(1822) began the assault on the citadel of Islam’s learning. In 1833 -the press was removed to Beirut; and from that day until now it has -been scattering leaves of healing throughout all the Arabic-speaking -world. When in 1865 Dr. Van Dyck wrote the last sheet of “copy” of the -Arabic Bible translation and handed it to the compositor, he marked an -era of importance not only to Syria and Asia Minor, but to the whole -of Arabia, greater than any accession or deposition of sultans. That -Bible made modern missions to Arabia possible; it was the result of -seventeen years of labor; “and herein is that saying true, One soweth, -and another reapeth ... other men labored and ye are entered into their -labors.” Whatever special difficulties and obstacles missionaries to -Arabia have met or will meet, the great work of preparing the Word of -God in the language of the people and a complete Christian literature -for every department of work, has already been accomplished by others; -and accomplished in such a way that the Arabic Bible of Beirut will -always be the Bible for Oman and Nejd and the most inland villages of -Yemen and Hadramaut. - -The history of direct effort to reach the great Arabian peninsula -begins with Henry Martyn. It is deeply interesting to follow the -gradual unfoldings of the Divine Providence in the reintroduction of -the gospel into Arabia thirteen centuries after Christianity had been -blotted out in that land by the sword of Mohammed and his successors. -In more than one sense Henry Martyn was the pioneer missionary to -Arabia. He first came into contact with the Arabs through his study of -their language and his employment of that remarkable character, Sabat, -as his munshee and co-worker. Sabat and his friend Abdullah were two -Arabs of notable pedigree, who, after visiting Mecca, resolved to see -the world. They first went to Cabul, where Abdullah entered the service -of the famous Ameer Zeman Shah. Through the efforts of an Armenian -Christian he abjured Islam and had to flee for his life to Bokhara. -“Sabat had preceded him there and at once recognized him on the street. -‘I had no pity,’ said Sabat afterward, ‘I delivered him up to Morad -Shah, the king.’ He was offered his life if he would abjure Christ. He -refused. Then one of his hands was cut off and again he was pressed to -recant. ‘He made no answer, but looked up steadfastly toward heaven, -like Stephen, the first martyr, his eyes streaming with tears. He -looked at me, but it was with the countenance of forgiveness. His other -hand was then cut off. But he never changed, and when he bowed his head -to receive the blow of death all Bokhara seemed to say, What new thing -is this?’ Remorse drove Sabat to long wanderings, in which he came to -Madras, where the government gave him the office of mufti or expounder -of the law of Islam in the civil courts. At Vizagapatam he fell in with -a copy of the Arabic New Testament as revised by Solomon Negri and sent -out to India in the middle of last century by the Society for Promoting -Christian Knowledge. He compared it with the Koran and the truth fell -on him like a flood of light. He sought baptism in Madras at the hands -of the Rev. Dr. Kerr and was named Nathaniel. He was then twenty-seven -years of age. When the news reached his family in Arabia, his brother -set out to destroy him, and, disguised as an Asiatic, wounded him with -a dagger as he sat in his house at Vizagapatam. He sent him home with -letters and gifts to his mother, and then gave himself up to propagate -the truth he had once in his friend Abdullah’s person, persecuted to -the death.”[134] These two were doubtless the first fruits of modern -Arabia to Christ. - -It was doubtless in a great degree Sabat who directed Martyn’s thoughts -and plans toward Arabia and the Arabs. On the last day of the year 1810 -he wrote in his diary: “I now pass from India to Arabia, not knowing -what things shall befall me there.” His purpose in leaving India was -partly his broken health but more his intense longing to give the -Mohammedans of Arabia and Persia the word of God in their own tongues. -On his voyage from Calcutta to Bombay he composed tracts in Arabic, -spoke with the Arab sailors and studied the Koran and Niebuhr’s travels -in Arabia. From Bombay he sailed for Arabia and Persia in one of the -ships of the old Indian navy going on a cruise in the Persian Gulf. He -reached Muscat on April 20, 1811, and writes his first impressions in -a letter to Lydia Grenfell: “I am now in Arabia Felix; to judge from -the aspect of the country it has little pretensions to the name, unless -burning, barren rocks convey an idea of felicity; but as there is a -promise in reserve for the sons of Joktan, their land may one day be -blessed indeed.” He attempted to go inland for a short distance, but -was forbidden by the soldiers of the Sultan of Muscat. - -Every word of Henry Martyn’s journal regarding Arabia is precious, but -we can quote only one more passage: “April 24. Went with one English -party and two Armenians and an Arab who served as guard and guide to -see a remarkable pass about a mile from the town and a garden planted -by a Hindu in a little village beyond. There was nothing to see, only -the little bit of green in this wilderness seemed to the Arab a great -curiosity. I conversed a good deal with him, but particularly with his -African slave, who was very intelligent about religion. The latter knew -as much about his religion as most mountaineers, and withal was so -interested that he would not cease from his argument till I left the -shore.” - -Martyn did not tarry long at Muscat but his visit was “a little bit of -green in this wilderness” and the prayers he there offered found answer -in God’s Providence long afterward. On all his voyage to Bushire he -was continually busy with his Arabic translation; the people of Arabia -were still first in his heart for he expresses himself as desirous -finally “to go to Arabia circuitously by way of Persia.” His longing -to give the Arabs the Scripture began in India and intensified his -devotion to the study of Hebrew. Had Martyn’s chief assistant in the -Arabic translating, Sabat, been a better scholar their New Testament -version would have proved abidingly useful. As Sabat’s knowledge of -the language proved very faulty their Arabic Testament did not remain -in use. It was first printed at Calcutta in 1816, and although it -accomplished a good work in common with other old translations, all -have been superseded by the wonderfully perfect version of Eli Smith -and Van Dyck. It was not due to Martyn, however, that the Arabic -language had no worthy version of the Bible until 1860. In his diaries -for September 8 and 9, 1810, we read these remarkable entries: “If my -life is spared, there is no reason why the Arabic should not be done in -Arabia, and the Persian in Persia as well as the Indian in India.” ... -“Arabia shall hide me till I come forth with an approved New Testament -in Arabic.” ... “Will government let me go away for three years before -the time of my furlough arrives? If not I must quit the service, and I -cannot devote my life to a more important work than that of preparing -the Arabic Bible.” - -These facts about Martyn’s life show at how many points it touched -Arabia; his purposes, his prayers, his studies, his translations, his -fellow-worker, and his visit to Muscat. But more than all these was the -result for Arabia of Martyn’s influence and the power of his spirit to -inspire others. - -In 1829 Anthony N. Groves, a dentist of Exeter, taking the commands -of Christ literally, sold all he had and, in the spirit of Martyn, -began his remarkable attempt at mission work in Bagdad. His work was -stopped twice, by the plague and by persecution, and the story of -his life reveals how great were the obstacles which he vainly tried -to surmount.[135] From that day until long years after Northern and -Eastern Arabia were waiting once more for the light. The only effort -made in the Gulf was by Dr. John Wilson of Bombay who, before 1843, -sent Bible colporteurs once and again by Aden and up the Persian Gulf; -“he summoned the Church of Scotland to despatch a mission to the Jews -of Arabia, Busrah and Bombay. A missionary was ready in the person of -William Burns who afterward went to China, the support of a missionary -at Aden was guaranteed by a friend and Wilson had found a volunteer -‘for the purpose of exploring Arabia’ when the disruption of the Church -of Scotland arrested the movement.”[136] It was Henry Martyn’s life -that inspired John Wilson in 1824. It was the Free Church of Scotland -that afterward took up the work of Ion Keith Falconer the pioneer -of Yemen. So God’s plans find fulfillment.[137] Even Muscat was not -left without a witness in those years of waiting. It appears that the -captain of an American ship which called at Muscat every year for a -cargo of dates was a godly man and used to distribute Arabic Bibles and -Testaments, even before the Bible Society extended its work to this -place. - -As early as 1878 the British and Foreign Bible Society sent Anton -Gibrail from Bombay to Bagdad on a colporteur-journey. And about the -same time the South Russia agent of the Society, Mr. James Watt, -visited Persia and Bagdad and pressed the needs of this field on the -committee of the Bible Society. He was seconded in his efforts by -Rev. Robert (now Canon) Bruce, a Church Missionary Society Missionary -in India. Arrangements were made between the two societies by which -Bible work was opened in Bagdad under the supervision of Mr. Bruce. -In December, 1880, a Bible depot was opened. Since then the work has -gone on continuously and extended, through the Arabian Mission, to the -entire east coast of Arabia. - -The first reference to the needs and opportunities for work in Western -Arabia appears in the Annual Report of the British Bible Society for -1886, where the opening of a Bible depot at Aden is announced with -the hope that it would lead to “the circulation of the Holy Bible on -a larger scale and in a variety of languages.” Ibrahim Abd el Masih -was the first in charge of this depot, and his name was attached to -the call for prayer from South Arabia issued after the death of Keith -Falconer. Colporteurs from Egypt and from Aden of the British and -Foreign Bible Society have once and again visited the Arabian Red Sea -ports and penetrated to Sana, the capital of Yemen. - -Between the years 1880 and 1890 more than one appeal went forth for -Arabia’s need. Old Doctor Lansing of the American U. P. Mission in -Egypt who for over thirty years had labored there waiting for the dawn -of a brighter day, when he heard of one of these appeals, was all on -fire, to start for Yemen. “For some years,” wrote an American minister -in the far West, “I and my people have been praying for Arabia.” - -The Wahabi reformation in its time attracted the interest of those -who studied the political horizon. The bombardment of Jiddah in 1858 -compelled attention to Mecca and the pilgrimage, while from 1838, when -England became mistress of Aden, until 1880 commerce and exploration -was specially active on all the Arabian coast. It was during this -period that the Anglo-Indian naval officers Morêsby, Haines, Elwon, -Saunders, Carless, Wellsted and Cruttenden carefully surveyed the -entire Arabian coast. What they did for commerce, Major-General F. T. -Haig did for missions in Arabia. He it was who first made the extensive -journey all around the coast of Arabia and into the interior of Yemen. -His articles pleading for the occupation of the Peninsula reached Keith -Falconer and finally decided his choice of a particular field, in the -wide Mohammedan world, to which his thoughts were already turned. It -was also the experience and counsel of this man of God that helped to -determine the final location as well as the preliminary explorations -of the American missionaries of the Arabian mission in 1890-92. The -reports of General Haig are even to-day the best condensed statement -of the needs and opportunities in the long neglected Peninsula while -his account of the problems to be met and the right sort of men to meet -them will always remain invaluable until the evangelization of Arabia -is an accomplished fact. - -In 1886 General Haig was asked by the committee of the Church -Missionary Society to undertake an exploration of the Red Sea coast -of Arabia and Somaliland with a view to ascertaining the openings -for missionary effort. He set out from London on October 12th, 1886, -reaching Alexandria on the 19th, and proceeded by way of the Red Sea -coast in an Egyptian steamer to Aden, calling at Tor, Yanbo, Jiddah, -Suakin, Massawa and Hodeidah. Dr. and Mrs. Harpur of the Church -Missionary Society were already at Aden seeking an opening for mission -work; the former accompanied General Haig back to Hodeidah and occupied -that place for a time as the first _medical_ missionary in Arabia. -General Haig then took the journey inland by the direct route to Sana -with Ibrahim, the British and Foreign Bible Society colporteur and -from Sana they went straight across Yemen to Aden. Shortly afterward -General Haig proceeded to Muscat and up the Persian Gulf calling at -all the ports. From Busrah he journeyed along the river to Bagdad and -thence across the Syrian desert by the overland post route to Damascus. -It was this long and difficult journey which formed the basis of two -papers[138] entitled: “On both sides of the Red Sea,” and “Arabia as a -Mission Field.”[139] - -A few brief extracts from these papers will interest the reader and -show the character of this first appeal to evangelize the land of the -Arabs. Writing of Yemen he says; “We have in this southwestern part -of Arabia a great mountainous country with a temperate climate, and a -hardy laborious race. This hill-country and its races extend northward -into Asir, eastward into Hadramaut for an indefinite distance, while -to the northeast they extend inland as far as the borders of the great -desert. The finest and most warlike races are those to be found to -the north and northeast of Sana. These have never yet submitted to -the Turkish yoke; in fact the limits of the Turkish territory to the -east of Sana are only a few miles distant from that place. Is it not -of extreme importance in connection with the evangelization of all -Southern Arabia that the gospel should be preached and the Word of God -brought to these hardy mountaineers? They are mostly Zeidiyeh, a sect -akin to the Shiahs in doctrine, but I saw no trace of fanaticism among -them, rather they seemed everywhere willing to listen to the truth. For -the most part I suspect they are but poor observers of the prescribed -religious practices of Islam. During the whole of my travels in Yemen -I never once saw a man at prayer, and in only a few of the larger -villages is there a mosque. The women are particularly accessible; in -the villages they wear no covering to the face, and those that we met -at the khans, or inns, were always ready to come forward and talk. The -little girls used frequently to run into our room, and, if invited, -would come and sit down by our side. Ignorance is, I should say, the -predominant characteristic of the whole population—ignorance of their -own religion, ignorance of the simplest elements of truth. I believe -that an evangelist, thoroughly master of the language, Arabic, might go -from village to village all over Yemen preaching, or quietly _speaking_ -the gospel.” - -This testimony is true. But the challenge has never yet been accepted -and all the highlands are still waiting for the first news of the -gospel. Speaking of the capital of Yemen the report goes on: “Sana is -a most important point. _It is impossible to exaggerate its importance -from a missionary point of view._ It is in the centre of the finest -races of Southern Arabia, and if a mission could be established there, -its influence would extend on all sides to a multitude of tribes -otherwise shut out from the gospel.” - -After reviewing in detail the open doors in every part of Arabia, and -speaking of the special obstacles at each point together with the best -methods of inaugurating work, he writes toward the end of his report: -“_In one degree or another then, all Arabia is, I consider, open to -the gospel._ It is as much open to it as the world generally was in -apostolic times, that is to say, it is accessible to the evangelist -at many different points, at all of which he would find men and women -needing salvation, some of whom would receive his message, while -others would reject it and persecute him. In some parts of the country -he would not be molested or interfered with by the ruling powers; in -others, as in Turkish Arabia, he might be arrested and even deported. -Dangerous fanatics are, I believe, seldom met with but occasionally -the missionary might come across such, and then the consequences might -be more serious. But what if his lot were even worse than this, if he -were hunted from village to village, and persecuted from city to city? -Our Lord contemplated no other reception for His disciples when He sent -them forth. This was in fact His ideal of the missionary life.... -‘When they persecute you in this city, (abandon the country? No.) flee -ye into another.’ The evangelist in Arabia need expect nothing worse -than this and even this would probably be of rare occurrence.... There -is no difficulty then about preaching the gospel in Arabia if men can -be found to face the consequences. The real difficulty would be the -protection of the converts. Most probably they would be exposed to -violence and death. The infant church might be a martyr church at first -like that of Uganda, but that would not prevent the spread of the truth -or its ultimate triumph.” The most remarkable thing about this report, -which occupies only forty pages, is its prophetic character, its -permanent value and the fact that it touches every phase of the problem -still before us. - -The immediate result of General Haig’s report was the determination -of the Church Missionary Society to leave Aden and Sheikh Othman to -Keith Falconer and the Free Church of Scotland, while Dr. and Mrs. -Harpur went to Hodeidah to try the possibilities of work in that -city. There the skill of a Christian physician would have more of -strategic power than in Aden itself which had two hospitals under -government service. Everything was hopeful at the outset and the people -flocked in large numbers to the dispensary. Evangelistic work was -carried on, and Dr. Harpur wrote: “I try to read of the birth, death -and resurrection of Christ including Isaiah liii., and the simplest -parables.” One or two of the Arabs became specially interested and read -the Bible very eagerly. But the Turkish governor found objection and -required a Turkish diploma from the missionary, or to have his diploma -acknowledged at Constantinople. Work was at a standstill. Dr. Harpur -was compelled to return to England on account of severe illness and -Hodeidah was not again entered. In his letter to the _Church Missionary -Intelligencer_, dated April 12th, 1887, we read: - - “Should the way be closed _now_, we trust that God will open it in - His own time, and whenever that time may be, I want now to say that - since I came here my great desire has been, and will continue to be, - that I might be allowed to live and work among the people of Yemen. - God knows best, wherever our work may be. Owing to the uncertainty - that exists about my diplomas being ratified, and being in the - meantime effectually stopped from any work, it seems advisable for us - to go back to Aden, there to wait until we get directions from the - Committee, using the time there for the study of the language. There - is a door here, as far as the people themselves are concerned, and I - trust we may not have to leave these poor people who have not rejected - the gospel. What a cause there is for prayer for them to Him who is - King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” - -About the same time, a remarkable call to prayer was sent out by the -little band of workers in South Arabia, who were left to mourn the -sudden death of their spiritual leader, Ion Keith Falconer. It was the -first call to prayer issued for Arabia and it did not remain unheeded: - - PRAYER FOR THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL IN SOUTH ARABIA. - -“We earnestly invite united intercession to Almighty God for the people -of this land, that He will open doors for the preaching of the gospel, -and prepare the hearts of all to receive it. - -We trust that many will respond to this request, and unite with us in -setting apart a special time every Tuesday for prayer for the above -object. We are, yours faithfully, - - (Signed.) F. I. HARPUR, M. B., - Church Missionary Society. - ALEX. PATERSON, M. B. C. M., - Free Church Mission. - MATTHEW LOCHHEAD, - Free Church Mission. - IBRAHIM ABD EL MESSIAH, - _Yemen, S. Arabia._ B. and F. Bible Society.” - -While the Church Missionary Society did not continue work at Hodeidah, -they were already occupying the extreme northeast corner of Arabia -and had begun work in Bagdad, the old city of the caliphs, with its -commanding situation on the Tigris, and its large, Arab population. -In 1882 Bagdad was occupied as an outpost of their Persia Mission -on recommendation of Dr. Bruce. Rev. T. R. Hodgson was the first -missionary there, but he afterward went into the service of the British -and Foreign Bible Society and greatly extended its work in the Persian -Gulf. He was succeeded by Dr. Henry Martyn Sutton and others. The -mission has had hard struggles with the Turkish officials and its -converts were compelled to flee. The medical work has had a vast and -extensive influence in all the region round about, and at present -the mission-staff is larger than ever before and the school recently -opened is flourishing. Mosul has been taken over from the American -Presbyterian Board by the Church Missionary Society, and in the words -of one of their missionaries, “we are watching for an opportunity of -carrying the gospel into the very heart of Central Arabia, where the -independent Prince of Nejd holds rule, across whose territory runs one -of the principal routes for pilgrims to Mecca.” - -As early as 1856 Rev. A. Stern made missionary journeys to Sana, Bagdad -and other parts of Arabia to visit the Jews with the gospel. That -remarkable missionary to the Jews, Joseph Wolff, the son of a Bavarian -Rabbi and who was baptized by a Benedictine monk in 1812, also visited -the Jews of Yemen and Bagdad in his wanderings.[140] - -In 1884, Mr. William Lethaby, a Methodist lay-preacher from England, -with his faithful wife, began a mission among the wild Arabs at Kerak -in the mountains of Moab; so populous and important is this mountain -fortress in the eyes of the nomads that they call it El Medina, “the -city.” This pioneer effort, after some years of struggle, was taken -up by the Church Missionary Society in connection with their Palestine -mission. Mr. Lethaby, after journeying in East Arabia, and attempting -in vain to cross the Peninsula from Bahrein westward (1892), is now in -charge of the Bible Society’s depot at Aden. - -As early as 1886 the North Africa Mission attempted to reach the -Bedouin tribes of Northern Arabia in the vicinity of Homs. Mr. Samuel -Van Tassel, a young Hollander, of New York, trained at Grattan -Guinness’ Institute, went out under their direction and accompanied -a Bedouin chief on his annual migration into the desert in 1890. He -found good opportunities among the nomads for gospel-work, so that the -door to him seemed “wide-open,” but Turkish official jealousy of all -foreigners who have dealings with the Bedouin tribes, put an end to -his work and compelled its abandonment. His experiences, however, as -the first one who lived and worked for Christ among the nomads in the -black tents of Kedar is valuable for the future. The door of access -was not closed by the Bedouins themselves, but by the Turks. Mr. Van -Tassel found the Arabs very friendly, and willing to hear the Bible -read, especially the Old Testament. He found none of the fanaticism of -the towns, and even persuaded the sheikhs to rest their caravans on the -Sabbath day. It is interesting to note that the North Africa Mission -was led to enter North Arabia through the representations of General -Haig, then one of their council. At present they have no workers in -Arabia, although that name still finds a place in their reports every -month with the pathetic rehearsal:[141] “Northern Arabia is peopled by -the Bedouin descendants of Ishmael; they are not bigoted Moslems, like -the Syrians, but willing to be enlightened. This portion of the field -is sadly in need of laborers.” - -In 1898 the Christian and Missionary Alliance of New York again called -attention to the needs of Northern Arabia through Mr. Forder, formerly -of the Kerak mission. He attempted to enter into the interior, by way -of Damascus, but met with an accident, which prevented the undertaking. - -Before sketching the lives of the two great pioneer missionaries to -Arabia, we must chronicle the appeal for the dark peninsula that -came from the heart of the Dark Continent. Not only because this -appeal belongs to the early dawn of Arabian missions, but because of -its remarkable character and its author. Henry Martyn in 1811 wrote -at Muscat, “there is a promise in reserve for the sons of Joktan”; -Alexander Mackay, from Uganda in 1888, took up the strain, and, in -closing his long plea for a mission to the Arabs of Muscat, wrote: “May -it soon be said, ‘This day is salvation come to this house forasmuch as -he also is a son of Abraham.’” - -This plea, written only two years before Mackay’s death, and dated, -August, 1888, Usambiro, Central Africa, is a great missionary document -for two reasons; it breathes the spirit of Christianity in showing -love to one’s enemies and it points out the real remedy against the -slave-trade. And yet Mackay accompanied his carefully written article -with this modest letter: “I enclose a few lines on a subject which has -been weighing on my mind for some time. I shall not be disappointed -if you consign them to the waste-paper basket, and shall only be too -glad if, on a better representation on the part of others, the subject -be taken up and something definite be done for these poor Arabs, whom -I respect, but who have given me much trouble in years past. The best -way by which we can turn the edge of their opposition and convert their -blasphemy into blessing is to do our utmost for their salvation.”[142] - -In this article Mackay pleads for Arabia for Africa’s sake and asks -that “Muscat, which is in more senses than one the key to Central -Africa,” be occupied by a _strong_ mission. “I do not deny,” he -writes, “that the task is difficult; and the men selected for work in -Muscat must be endowed with no small measure of the Spirit of Jesus, -besides possessing such linguistic ability as to be able to reach not -only the ears, but the very _hearts_ of men.” He pleads for half a -dozen men, the pick of the English universities, to make the venture -in faith. His continual reason for the crying need of such a mission -is the strong influence it would exert in Africa because of the Arab -traders. “It is almost needless to say that the outlook in Africa will -be considerably brightened by the establishment of a mission to the -Arabs in Muscat.” “The Arabs have helped us often and have hindered us -likewise. We owe them therefore a double debt, which, I can see no more -affective way of paying than by at once establishing a strong mission -at their very headquarters—Muscat itself.” - -Mackay was not unaware of the great difficulties of work among -Mohammedans and in Arabia; he calls it “a gigantic project” and terms -Arabia “the cradle of Islam.” But his faith is so strong, that at the -very beginning of his article he quotes the remarkable resolution of -the Church Missionary Society passed on May 1st, 1888, regarding work -for Mohammedans.[143] - -The effect of Mackay’s pleading was that the veteran Bishop French took -up the challenge and laid down his life at Muscat. That life has “such -linguistic capacity as to be able,” evermore “to reach not only the -ears but the very _hearts_ of men” in a way even far above the thought -of Alexander Mackay of Uganda. - - - - - XXXI - - ION KEITH FALCONER AND THE ADEN MISSION - - “My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my - courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry - with me to be a witness for me, that I have fought His battles, who - now will be my rewarder.... So he passed over and all the trumpets - sounded for him on the other side.”—_Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress._ - (Death of Valiant for Truth.) - - -Ion Keith Falconer and Thomas Valpy French, both laid down their lives -for Christ after a brief period of labor in the land they so dearly -loved. Keith Falconer died at the age of thirty after having spent only -_ten months_, all-told, on Arabian soil; Bishop French was sixty-six -years old when he came to Muscat and lived only ninety-five days after -his arrival. But both gave - - “One crowded hour of glorious life,” - -to the cause of Christ in Arabia and left behind them an influence, -power and inspiration which - - “Is worth an age without a name.” - -Ion Grant Neville Keith Falconer,[144] the third son of the late Earl -of Kintore, was born at Edinburgh, Scotland, on the 5th of July, 1856. -At thirteen years of age he went to Harrow to compete for an entrance -scholarship and was successful. He was not a commonplace boy either -in his ways of study or thoughts on religion. With a healthy ambition -to excel and yet with a kindly modesty he made friends of those -whom he surpassed and loved those who were his inferiors. Manliness, -magnanimity, piety and unselfishness, rare traits in a lad, were in him -conspicuous. He loved outdoor sports and excelled in athletics as well -as in his studies. At twenty he was President of the London Bicycle -Club and at twenty-two the champion racer in Great Britain. - -One paragraph taken from the close of one of his letters gives us a -glimpse of the boy at school and throws light on his future choice of -a profession. It is dated July 16th, 1873: “ ... Charrington sent me a -book yesterday which I have read. It is called _Following Fully_ ... -about a man who works among the cholera people in London so hard that -he at last succumbs and dies. But every page is full of Jesus Christ, -so that I liked it. And I like Charrington because he is quite devoted -to Him, and has really given up all for His glory. I must go and do -the same soon: how I don’t know.” This same year he left Harrow, and, -after spending a year with a tutor exclusively in mathematics, entered -Cambridge. His intentions were at first to compete for honors in -mathematics but after careful thought he changed his plans and began to -read for honors in the Theological Tripos. - -During his college days he also distinguished himself as a master -in his two favorite pursuits, bicycling and shorthand. On the later -subject he wrote the article in the Encyclopedia Britannica. He -had a fine intellect, tremendous power of application and a genius -for plodding. His knowledge of Hebrew was extraordinary; he wrote -post-cards in that language to his professor on every conceivable -subject, and translated the hymn, “Lead Kindly Light” as a pastime. -No wonder that he received the highest honor in that language that -Cambridge can give and passed with ease the Semitic languages -examination at the close of his course. - -But in all his studies and pastimes he did not cease to show that -he was first of all a Christian and had the missionary spirit. -By evangelistic work at Barnwell and Mile-End, alone and with his -friend, Mr. F. N. Charrington, he labored to reach the poor and -down-trodden. For the work in London he became at once treasurer and -contributor of $10,000 and his work at Mile-End Road is held in loving -remembrance by the present workers. Here doubtless it was that his -thoughts first turned to the regions beyond. For in a letter dated -June 12th, 1881, from Stepney Green, he writes: “It is overwhelming -to think of the vastness of the harvest-field when compared with the -indolence, indifference and unwillingness on the part of most so-called -Christians, to become, even in a moderate degree, laborers in the same. -I take the rebuke to myself. ... To enjoy the blessings and happiness -God gives, and never to stretch out a helping hand to the poor and the -wicked, is a most horrible thing. When we come to die, it will be awful -for us, if we have to look back on a life spent purely on self, but, -believe me, if we are to spend our life otherwise, we must make up our -minds to be thought ‘odd’ and ‘eccentric’ and ‘unsocial,’ and to be -sneered at and avoided.... The usual centre is SELF, the proper centre -is GOD. If, therefore, one lives for God, one is _out of centre_ or -_eccentric,_ with regard to the people who do not.” - -After his final examination at Cambridge, he turned his whole attention -to Arabic; why, he himself knew not, except that he loved the language; -it was God’s plan in his life. To secure special advantages he went -first to Leipzig in October, 1880, and afterward to Assiut, Egypt. The -Semitic scholar was becoming an Arab and fell in love with the desert -even then. He wrote from Assiut, after some months of study: “I am -meditating a camel-ride in the desert. I mean to go from here to Luxor -on a donkey, camping out every night, and from Luxor to Kossair, on the -Red Sea, on a dromedary. ... I shall learn two things by doing this -journey, Arabic and cooking.” An attack of fever prevented the journey, -and Falconer returned to England. Even there his engrossing study -was Arabic, in which he was now reading such difficult books as the -Mo’allakat and Al Hariri; as he expressed it, “I expect to peg away at -the Arabic dictionary till my last day.” - -In March, 1884, he married Miss Gwendolen Bevan; they took a journey -to Italy, and then settled at Cambridge, where Keith Falconer lectured -and studied. In the spring of 1885 he published his Kalilah and Dimnah, -translated from the Syriac, with notes; a lasting monument to his -Semitic scholarship and an example of his wide general learning.[145] - -Toward the end of the year 1884 his thoughts first began to be -definitely drawn to the foreign mission field, but as yet without any -special choice of field. A summary of the papers written on Arabia, by -General Haig, for the _Church Missionary Intelligencer_ was published -in _The Christian_, in February, 1885, and fell under the eyes of -Keith Falconer. The idea of evangelizing Arabia took hold of him with -Divine power. His whole soul answered, “Here am I, send me.” The -immediate outcome was a request for an interview with General Haig, -whom he accordingly met in London on February 21st, 1885, “to talk -about Aden and Arabia.” He determined to go to Aden and see the field -for himself. Only two questions did he stop to consider: First, as to -the healthfulness of the place, and then whether he should go out as a -free lance or should associate himself more or less closely with some -existing society. Warmly attached to the Free Church of Scotland from -his childhood, he met the Foreign Mission Committee of that church and -his project was recognized by them. On October 7th he left, with his -young wife, for Aden, and arrived there on October 28th. They remained -until March 6th of the following spring. - -The first missionary report of this pioneer in South Arabia indicates -what he thought of the field; and why he decided to make Sheikh -Othman, and not Aden, the centre of future work; it also sets forth the -methods which Keith Falconer proposed to adopt for the evangelization -of Arabia. The following extracts are of especial interest: - - “The population of Aden is made up of (1) Arabs, all Moslems, mostly - Sunnis of the Shafii sect; (2) Africans, mostly Somalis who are all - Shafii Moslems; (3) Jews; (4) Natives of India, mostly Moslems, the - rest being Hindus, a few Parsis, and a few Portuguese from Goa. In - 1872, for every five Arabs there were less than three Somalis; but I - am told that now they are numerically equal. The Arabs and Somalis - together make up the great bulk—about four-fifths—of the whole. In - 1872 the Jews numbered 1,435; they are now reckoned at more than - 2,000. The Europeans, the garrison, and camp-followers number about - 3,500. The climate of Aden is, for the tropics, unusually healthy. - The port-surgeon, who has been here five years, assures me that a - missionary need have no fear on the score of health. This is due to - the scarcity of rain and vegetation, and to the constant sea-breezes. - The summer heat is severe and depressing, but not unhealthy. There - can be little doubt that Aden, from the fact of its being a British - possession, from its geographical position, its political relations - with the interior, its commerce with Yemen, its healthy climate, and - its mixed Arab-Somali population, is, humanly speaking a good centre - for Christian work among the Moslems of Arabia and Africa. - - “The next question is, how and where precisely to begin? My own notion - is to establish a school, industrial orphanage, and medical mission - at Sheikh Othman. The children are far more hopeful than the adults, - and the power to give medical aid would be not only very useful in - Sheikh Othman, but invaluable in pushing into the interior. There are - numbers of castaway Somali children in Aden whose parents are only - too willing that they should be fed and cared for by others. These, - as well as orphans, might be gathered and brought up in the faith - of Christ, _nemine contradicente_. It would be necessary to teach - the children to work with their hands, and I think that a carpenter - or craftsman of some kind from home or from India should be on the - mission staff. But the chief object of the institution would be to - train native evangelists and teachers; and a part of their training - should be _medical_. With a slight, rough-and-ready knowledge of - medicine and surgery, they would find many doors open to them. In - the school, reading by means of the Arabic Bible and Christian - books, writing, and arithmetic would be taught to all; and English, - historical geography, Euclid, algebra, and natural science to the - cleverer children. A native teacher, procurable from Syria or Egypt, - would be very valuable, and I think a necessity at first. If it - were known in the interior that a competent medical man and surgeon - resided in Sheikh Othman, the Arabs who now come to Aden for advice - would stop short at our mission-house; and the surgeon would have - considerable scope both in Sheikh Othman, El-Hautah, and the little - country villages, not to speak of the opposite African country. Of - course the treatment of surgical cases would involve the keeping of a - few beds. The medical missionary should be a thoroughly qualified man, - as natives often delay to come for advice until disease has become - serious and complicated. The port-surgeon has impressed this upon me - several times. It should be mentioned that the native assistant at the - Sheikh Othman dispensary often finds that Arabs come to Sheikh Othman - to be treated, and, deriving no benefit, refuse to go on to Aden, and - return home. The institution should stand in a cultivated plot or - garden. This would render it far more attractive, and would greatly - benefit the children. It would be possible to arrange for this in - Sheikh Othman, where there is plenty of water, and the soil is good; - but not in Aden, where almost utter barrenness is everywhere found. - - “My reasons, then, for perferring Sheikh Othman are: - - “1. We should not be seriously competing with government - institutions. In fact, I am told that the government would be glad - to be relieved of the necessity of keeping up a dispensary at Sheikh - Othman. - - “2. The climate is fresher and less enervating than that of Aden. From - its position it has the benefit of any sea-breeze which may blow, and - the soil absorbs heat without giving it out again. On the other hand, - in Aden, the high, black, cinder-like rocks often obstruct the breeze, - store heat in the day, and give it out at night. Thus the nights in - Sheikh Othman are markedly cooler than in Aden. - - “3. There is abundance of water, and the soil is capable of - cultivation—a fact proved by the two fine private gardens there, not - to speak of the government garden. But at Aden the soil is utterly - barren, and all water must be paid for. It is either condensed, or - procured by an aqueduct, or from a well sunk 120 feet in the solid - rock. The water from the latter is quite sweet, and sometimes handed - round after dinner in wineglasses! - - “4. I am told on the best authority that it would be very difficult - to get a suitable site in Aden, whereas there are plenty in Sheikh - Othman. Besides any number of building sites, two very large garden - sites are vacant. The latter I have inspected, and the one I am - recommended to take as having the best soil is admirably situated - between the old village and the new settlement. It occupies the space - between them. I can have the whole or the half of it _granted_ to me - at a nominal quit-rent. - - “5. Sheikh Othman is eight miles on the road to the interior, and so - in closer contact with the tribes, and removed from the influence of - the bad and unchristian example set by so many Europeans. - - “On the other hand, it must be borne in mind that the population of - Sheikh Othman—about 6,500—is comparatively small, though likely to - increase somewhat; and that it is very shifting, not more than some - 1,500 being permanently resident. The last objection, however, applies - to Aden as well.” - -In another portion of the same report, after telling of the importance -of Aden as a missionary centre, he emphasizes the fact that “More -than a quarter of a million camels, with their drivers, enter and -leave Aden yearly with produce from all parts of Yemen. The great -majority of these pass through Sheikh Othman, where they make a halt -of several hours on the journey to Aden.” No one acquainted with Aden -and its vicinity and reading Keith Falconer’s letters can fail to -be struck with the fact that from the outset he had his plans made -_for the interior_, and that Sheikh Othman was only the first stage -which he intended to use as a base of operations. He wrote to General -Haig about the same time as the date of his report: “I have made up -my mind that the right place for me to settle at is Sheikh Othman, -not Aden. This will leave Aden and Steamer Point open to the Church -Missionary Society. Though I do not think that a medical missionary -would have much scope in Aden, I think that a Bible and tract-room -and preaching-hall might be started there.... I hope to visit Lahej -soon, but fear I shall be unable to go to Sana. I should not know -where to leave my wife. When I have a colleague at Sheikh Othman with -a wife, the two ladies can be together while the husbands go to Sana -and elsewhere. If the Church Missionary Society missionaries come here -I trust we shall find ways and means of coöperating and helping one -another.” - -In February, 1886, Keith Falconer went with a Scotch military doctor -to Lahej, the first large village beyond Sheikh Othman, in the middle -of an oasis, and then governed by an independent “Sultan.” In March, -having completed his preliminary survey of the field and decided on -choice of a location, he sailed for England, not to tarry there, but -to prepare for the final exodus to Arabia. “For,” says his biographer, -“the soldier of the Cross had counted the cost, had weighed with the -utmost care every risk and had taken his final resolve. The manner in -which he told his friends this was very characteristic of the man ... -who goes forth to the fight ready to spend and be spent in the cause -of Christ.” In May he met the General Assembly of the Free Church and -made his famous address on Mohammedanism and missions to Mohammedans. -In order to begin the work at Aden, a second missionary, a medical man, -was desired. Although the man was not yet found, Keith Falconer made -the generous proposal to pay the sum of £300 ($1,500) annually to the -Free Church for the new missionary’s salary. He had already offered to -pay the expenses of himself and his wife, and had agreed to take upon -himself the whole cost of the building of the mission-house. He laid on -the missionary altar not only his talent of learning but that of money, -and was in truth “an honorary missionary.” - -The time between Keith Falconer’s arrival in England and his return -to Arabia was crowded full of life and activity, but only the most -important events can be narrated. He received the gratifying but -altogether unexpected offer of the post of Lord Almoner’s professor -of Arabic at Cambridge, which he accepted, becoming the successor -of Edward H. Palmer and Robertson Smith. He prepared the lectures -required, choosing for his subject “The Pilgrimage to Mecca.” He read -all the books on the subject in many languages, even learning the Dutch -grammar in order to understand a work in that language. He visited -hospitals in search of an associate for Arabia. He selected his library -and furniture to take to Aden and disposed of his house-lease. He -acted as judge at the Young Men’s Christian Association Cycling Club -races in Cambridge. He went to Glasgow to meet Dr. Stewart Cowen who -was appointed his co-worker to Arabia. He tried to insure his life in -favor of the mission-work at Mile-End; but while the insurance office -declared him “First-Class,” they refused to grant the policy when they -heard of his proposed place of residence. He gave several farewell -addresses in Scotland and delivered his Cambridge lectures just on the -eve of leaving for Arabia. All this work was crowded into six months’ -time by the man who, like Napoleon, did not have the word _impossible_ -in his vocabulary. How well the work was done is proved by his -lectures, the article in the Encyclopedia and his farewell addresses. -What could be finer and stronger than these last sentences from his -farewell address at Glasgow which still ring with power: - - “We have a great and imposing war-office, but a very small army ... - while vast continents are shrouded in almost utter darkness, and - hundreds of millions suffer the horrors of heathenism or of Islam, - the burden of proof lies upon you to show that the circumstances in - which God has placed you were meant by Him to keep out of the foreign - mission field.” - -Dr. Cowen arrived at Aden on December 7th, 1886, and Keith Falconer a -day later, by the Austrian steamship “Berenice.” He wrote, “We stopped -at Jiddah, but to my great disappointment quarantine prevented me from -going on shore. I gazed long at the hills which hid Mecca from us.” - -Mrs. Keith Falconer arrived a fortnight later. But the new missionaries -were unfortunate at the outset in obtaining a suitable dwelling. The -stone bungalow, which they expected to occupy at Sheikh Othman until -a mission-house was built, could not be rented; after considerable -difficulty they managed to secure a large native hut, about forty -feet square, which, with certain changes, appeared suitable for -the emergency. A shed, erected by Keith Falconer, served them as a -dispensary, and on January 11th, he wrote, “Our temporary quarters -are very comfortable and the books look very nice.” Everything went -well for a time and arrangements were made to begin building the -mission-house. A tour was taken to Bir Achmed and the gospel was -preached every day by word and work, although some of the party were -down with fever nearly all the time. - -Early in February, 1887, they were cheered by the visit of General -Haig, returning from his Yemen journey; but very soon after things -began for the first time to be clouded over. On February 10th, -returning from a tour inland, Keith Falconer was seized with a high -fever which continued for three days and then began to abate, but did -not leave him entirely. Mrs. Keith Falconer also had a severe attack -of fever, and both went for a change to Steamer Point for three weeks, -after which they returned to their “hut” at Sheikh Othman. On May 1st, -Keith Falconer wrote to his mother, “You will be sorry to hear that -I have been down with yet another attack ... this makes my seventh -attack. This rather miserable shanty, in which we are compelled to -live, is largely the cause of our fevers ... we expect to begin living -in the new house about June 1st, though it will not be finished then.” -But this letter did not reach her until after the telegram had told -the news that God had called His servant to Himself. On Tuesday, May -10th, after continued fevers and two restless nights, he went to sleep, -and in the morning ... “one glance told all. He was lying on his back -with eyes half open. The whole attitude and expression indicated a -sudden and painless end, as if it had taken place during sleep, there -being no indication whatever of his having tried to move or speak.” On -the evening of the next day he was laid to rest, “In the cemetery at -Aden by British officers and soldiers—fitting burial for a soldier of -Christ, who, with armor on and courage undaunted, fell with face to the -foe. The martyr of Aden had entered God’s Eden. And so Great Britain -made her first offering—a costly sacrifice—to Arabia’s evangelization.” - -Keith Falconer did not live long, but he lived long enough to do -what he had purposed, (and to do it after God’s plan not his own) -“_to call attention to Arabia_.” The workman fell but the work did -not cease. The Free Church asked for one volunteer to step into his -place, and thirteen of the graduating class of New College responded. -By the story of Keith Falconer’s life ten thousand lives have been -spiritually quickened to think of the foreign field and its claims. -He, “being dead, yet speaketh,” and will continue to speak until Arabia -is evangelized. Every future missionary to Arabia and every friend of -missions who reads Falconer’s life will approve the appropriateness of -the simple inscription on his grave at Aden: - - TO - THE DEAR MEMORY OF - THE HON. ION KEITH FALCONER, - THIRD SON OF - THE EARL AND COUNTESS OF KINTORE, - WHO ENTERED INTO REST - AT SHEIKH OTHMAN, MAY 11, 1887, - AGED 30 YEARS. - - “If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and, where I am, there shall - also My servant be: if any man serve Me, him will My Father honor.” - -The influence of Keith Falconer’s consecration was widely felt at the -time of his death and has been felt ever since. His biography has -become a missionary classic, and has passed through six editions. The -Presbytery of the Scotch Church in Kafraria, South Africa, resolved -in October, 1887, that “steps be taken to prepare a memoir of the -late Hon. Ion Keith Falconer, to be printed in _Kafir_ as a tract for -circulation among the native congregations with a view to impress them -with an example of self-sacrifice.” - -The mission at Sheikh Othman was continued. Through the generosity of -Keith Falconer’s mother and widow stipends for two missionaries were -guaranteed. Dr. Cowen returned to England, but Rev. W. R. W. Gardner -and Dr. Alexander Patterson came to the field. For a time Mr. Matthew -Lochhead, from the mission among the Kabyles in Morocco, also joined -them. A school for rescued slaves was started, but the children’s -health failing they were transferred to Lovedale in Africa. In 1893, -Rev. J. C. Young, M. D., was sent out as a medical missionary to -enforce the Rev. Mr. Gardner who with Mrs. Gardner was then alone; Dr. -Paterson and Mr. Lochhead having left for reasons of health. Rev. and -Mrs. Gardner went to Cairo in 1895, and the following year Dr. Young -was joined by Dr. and Mrs. W. D. Miller. In 1898 Mrs. Miller died, and -Dr. Miller returned home. At present the mission staff consists of Rev. -Dr. Young and Dr. Morris, who joined the mission in 1898. - -Despite these frequent changes and short periods of service, the Keith -Falconer mission has not been at a standstill. Each of the faithful -band used their special talent and individuality in removing somewhat -from the vast mountain of Moslem prejudice and opposition “to make -straight in the desert a highway for our God.” The immediate interior -around Aden has been frequently visited; the mission dispensary is -known for hundreds of miles beyond Sheikh Othman. We record with -regret that Keith Falconer’s wish to go to Sana remains unfulfilled on -the part of the mission. A school for boys has been started, and the -small “shanty” for the sick has grown into a fully equipped mission -dispensary, which treated over 17,800 out-patients in 1898. A much -needed and most hopeful work among the soldiers is carried on in -Steamer Point (Aden) and the Keith Falconer Memorial Church is filled -every Sabbath with those who love to hear the old gospel. - - - - - XXXII - - BISHOP FRENCH THE VETERAN MISSIONARY TO MUSCAT - - -If it was Keith Falconer’s life and death that sealed the missionary -love of the church to Aden, it was the death of Thomas Valpy -French[146] that turned many eyes to Muscat. Bishop French it was who -signalized the completion of his fortieth year of missionary service by -attacking, single handed, the seemingly impregnable fortress of Islam -in Oman. He is called by Eugene Stock, “the most distinguished of all -Church Missionary Society missionaries.” - -We are tempted to describe this man’s early mission work in founding -the Agra college and protecting the native Christians in the mutiny; -his pioneer work in Derajat; his founding of the St. John Divinity -School at Lahore; his controversies with the Mohammedans; and his -manifold labors as the first Bishop of Lahore, but we can only -chronicle here the closing years of his useful life. After forty -years of “labors abundant” and “journeyings oft” he resigned his -bishopric to travel among Arabic-speaking people and learn more of -their language. He visited the Holy Land, Armenia, Bagdad and Tunis, -everywhere diligently seeking to learn Arabic, and persuade the Moslems -of the truth of Christianity. He became, as some one expressed it, a -“Christian fakir” for the sake of the gospel and desired to end his -life as he began it, in pioneer missionary-work. - -As we have said it was Mackay of Uganda who riveted the bishop’s -attention to Muscat. Such a plea from such lips could not but touch -the heart of such a veteran. No one else came forward, so how could -he refuse? He knew that age and infirmities were coming upon him, but -he wanted to die a missionary to Mohammedans. He had, to use his own -words, “an inexpressible desire” to preach to the Arabs. He was willing -to begin the work on his own account with the hope that the Church -Missionary Society would take it up. - -What was the character of this lion-heart who dared to lift his grey -head high and respond _alone_, to Mackay’s call for “half a dozen men, -the pick of the English Universities to make the venture in faith”? -One who was his friend and fellow-missionary for many years wrote: -“To live with him was to drink in an atmosphere that was spiritually -bracing. As the air of the Engadine is to the body, so was his intimacy -to the soul. It was an education to be with him. To acquire anything -approaching his sense of duty was alone worth a visit to India. He -demanded implicit obedience from those whom he directed, and often -the cost was considerable. If any were unwilling to face a risk, he -fell grievously in the bishop’s estimation. There was nothing that he -thought a man should not yield—home, or wife, or health—if God’s call -was apparent. But then every one knew that he only asked of them what -he himself had done, and was always doing. How shall I speak of his -unworldliness? India is full of tales of this; of acts that often led -to somewhat humorous results. There was no in season or out of season -with him. He was always on his Master’s business. No biography, it is -said, will be complete that does not show this side of his character. -To outsiders frequently it seemed to lead him into inconsistencies. -It did not seem incongruous for him to turn to the lady next to him, -at a large luncheon party, and begin to discuss the heavenly Bride of -Christ; neither was it strange when hymn-books were distributed at -a large reception he held at Government House (kindly lent for the -bishop’s sojourn there), and the evening party was closed with hymns -and prayer.” - -Rev. Robert Clark of the Punjab, Church Missionary Society, testifies: -“When he first began his work in Agra, he studied about sixteen hours a -day. He taught in his school, he preached in the bazaars, he instructed -inquirers for baptism, he prepared catechists for ordination, he was -engaged in writing books, at the same time that he was learning Arabic, -Persian, Urdu, Sanscrit, and Hindi with munshis. Such excellence few -can attain to, because few can safely follow in his steps in this -respect. But all can copy his example of prayerful labor. When he spent -his holidays in travels and in preaching excursions far and near, he -showed us how to spend every hour of relaxation in the most profitable -way. When he refused to possess even a very ordinary conveyance, -because he thought that a missionary should go on foot, and declined to -use anything but the most common furniture for his house, he set us an -example of self-abnegation, and showed us what, in his opinion, should -be the attitude of the missionary before the world. When he spent his -earliest mornings with God, with his Hebrew Bible and Greek Testament -before him, he often invited some friend to sit by him to share with -him the rich thoughts which the Word of God suggested to his mind.” - -This was the man who in solitary loneliness, without one friend to -stand at his side, planted and upheld till death the banner of the -cross where it had never been planted before. In the hottest season of -the year, with a little tent and two servants he was preparing to push -inland when death interposed and gave rest to the veteran of sixty-six -years. “We fools accounted his life madness, but he is numbered among -the children of God and his lot is among the saints.” (Wisdom of -Solomon v. 4, 5.) Only Judas can “have indignation saying to what -purpose is this waste?” This broken box of exceeding precious ointment -has given fragrance to the whole world. - -We will let Bishop French tell his own brief story of the work at -Muscat, beginning with the time when we travelled together down the -Red Sea both in quest of God’s plan for us in Arabia.[147] - - _Near Aden, Jan. 22d, 1891._ - - “Boisterous winds and turbulent seas have racked my brain sorely, and - I have seldom had such torture in this line. But we are close to the - Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, and hope to reach Aden some twelve hours - hence. I should have been sorry to miss Hodeidah, where I had a long - day (spite of difficulty of reaching it by _sambuca_ or small boat - of broad and heavy build), returning to ship in the evening. I left - my friends, Maitland and a young American missionary, and made my - way straight out through a gate of one of the stout city walls, into - the country beyond, where are palm-groves and some fairly imposing - stuccoed country-houses of merchants and men of rank. Under an arcade - (as the sun was to be feared) I got a little congregation together, - some learned, others unlearned, and addressed them for over an hour, - eliciting the opposition of one or two of the _ulumā_, or educated - men. For the first time in this part of my journey, my mouth seemed - a little opened and heart enlarged to witness for Christ, and a few - seemed really struck and interested. I tried to get entrance into a - mosque or two, as of old time into Afghan mosques with Gordon and - others, but failed to find the proper Imams within. I secured the - lower steps of a flight of steps leading up to the private residence - of a high Turkish officer, in rich uniform, a general of army here, - not knowing whose steps I was occupying. However, the old gentleman - came down (as a Roman centurion in old time might have done) and - took his seat, with a few others, on his own doorstep, and listened - with singular docility and thankfulness, and begged my blessing - on his office, and his fulfillment of its arduous duties. After - first leave-taking, he sent down to me a beautiful walking-stick of - lemon-wood, so I had to mount the steps to express my gratitude and - acknowledgment of his singular courtesy and friendship. Then came - a still more enthusiastic and affectionate leave-taking still, and - warm kissing of hands, to Maitland’s astonishment. I certainly never - experienced such kindness and friendship from any Turkish official - before in any quarter. I trust the message may have struck his heart. - Anyhow, he gladly accepted a copy of the whole Bible—this is one of - the most bigoted of Arab cities. - - “There was an excellent colporteur here this week, of the Bible - Society, Stephanos, a Jewish convert, I believe, and excellent Arabic - scholar. The Wali, or viceroy of the city, has forbidden his carrying - Arabic Bibles into the interior, though the Hebrew ones for the Jews - at Sennaa are passed, some six days, into the mountains. In Jidda - itself, I had some small measure of encouragement, but not nearly so - much as in Hodeidah, which has now outstripped Mocha as a thriving - trade centre in those parts.” - - _Muscat, Gulf of Oman, - February 13th, 1891._ - - “I arrived here on Sunday last with Mr. Maitland, of the Cambridge - Delhi Mission, whom I met in Egypt, and who spends a few weeks for his - health’s sake with me, perhaps until Easter. We did not like throwing - ourselves on the British Consul here, as we thought it might embarrass - him to entertain Christian missionaries on their first arrival here; - and we had very great difficulty in finding even the meanest quarters - for the first day or two, but are now in quarters in an adjoining - village, more tolerable as regards necessary comforts, belonging to - the American Consul, who is agent for a New York house of business. I - have written to India for a Swiss-cottage tent, as a resource in case - of no possible residence being available here, or anything approaching - even the English village public-house, or Persian caravanserai. In the - adjoining hills such a tent might give shelter during the hot weather, - if the Arabs will tolerate the presence of a Christian missionary. - “Of possibilities of entrance of a mission, I feel it would be - premature to speak yet. We are pushing on our Arabic studies, and I - am glad to find how much more intelligible my Arab teaching is than - in Tunis and Egypt. I hope soon to find a Sheikh of some learning, - to carry on translations in Arabic under his guidance, if life and - health be spared. I feel most thankful to feel myself again in a - definite temporary centre, at least of missionary effort. ‘Patience - and long-suffering with joyfulness’ I would humbly and heartily - desire to cultivate, as most appropriate to my present condition and - circumstances. The British Consul, a very polite and courteous and - high principled man, is hopeless as to any effect being produced on - the Oman Arabs, and feels his position precludes him from making - common cause with any effort for making proselytes among them. So when - Maitland goes I shall be pretty lonely here, not for the first time, - however, and I only pray that the loneliness may help me to realize - more fully the blessed Presence which fills, strengthens, animates, - and supports.” - -His last letter written from Muscat to the Church Missionary Society is -dated April 24th, 1891. A portion of it is as follows: - - “Patience here, as elsewhere (and more than in most scenes I have - visited), is a great prerequisite. I still live alone in a borrowed - house, a spare one belonging to the American Consul here, and, rough - as it is, it is amply sufficient for a missionary, and is in the heart - of the town. I cannot get many—very few, indeed—to come to my house - and read, which is naturally one of my great objects. They ask me into - their shops and houses sometimes, to sit and discuss on the great - question at issue between us and them, some Beluchees, mostly Arabs; - and the latter I vastly prefer, and consider more hopeful. There are - some Hindus in the crowded bazaars, but I see little of them—partly - because of the noise of narrow streets and traffic, and partly because - I do not wish to be tempted away from the Arabic. Most of the few - Hindu traffickers living here understand Arabic. - - “There is much outward observance of religious forms; there are crowds - of mosques; rather a large proportion of educated men and women too; - the latter take special interest in religious questions, and sometimes - lead the opposition to the gospel. They have large girls’ schools and - female teachers. There is a lepers’ village nigh at hand to the town. - I occupied for the second time this morning a shed they have allotted - me, well roofed over; and those poor lepers, men and women, gathered - in fair numbers to listen. Chiefly, however, I reach the educated men - by the roadside or in a house-portico, sometimes even in a mosque, - which is to me a new experience. Still there is considerable shyness, - occasionally bitter opposition; yet bright faces of welcome sometimes - cheer me and help me on, and I am only surprised that so much is - borne with. I have made special efforts to get into the mosques, but - most often this is refused. The Moolahs and Muallims seem afraid of - coming to help me on in my translations, or in encountering with me - more difficult passages in the best classics. This has surprised - and disconcerted me rather; but I have been saved in the main from - anything like depression, and have had happy and comfortable proofs of - the Saviour’s gracious Presence with me. The Psalms, as usual, seem - most appropriate and answerable to the needs of such a pioneer and - lonely work.... - - “If I can get no faithful servant and guide for the journey into - the interior, well versed in dealing with Arabs and getting needful - common supplies (I want but little), I may try Bahrein, or Hodeidah - and Sennaa, and if that fails, the North of Africa again, in some - highland; for without a house of our own the climate would be - insufferable for me—at least, during the very hot months—and one’s - work would be at a standstill. But I shall not give up, please God, - even temporarily, my plans for the interior, unless, all avenues being - closed, it would be sheer madness to attempt to carry them out.” - -He never reached the interior, for he received a sunstroke on his way -from Muscat to the neighboring village, Mattra, in an open boat. He was -removed to the Consulate but scarcely regained consciousness except to -utter a “God bless you” to the Consul, Colonel Mockler. He died on May -14th, 1891. The very manner of his death fulfilled, more than he ever -thought, his own words in one of his letters from Muscat: “In memory -of Henry Martyn’s pleadings for Arabia, Arabs and the Arabic, I seem -almost trying at least to follow more directly in his footsteps and -under his guidance, than even in Persia or India, however incalculable -the distance at which the guided one follows the leader!” - -The grave of Bishop French is in the bottom of a narrow ravine circled -by black rocks and reached by boat, by rounding the rocky point to the -south of Muscat. Here are many graves of sailors of the Royal marine -and others who died on this burning and inhospitable coast. Here also -rests the body of Rev. George E. Stone, the American Missionary, who -was called home in the summer of 1899, after a short period of service. - -IN MEMORY OF THOMAS VALPY FRENCH, BISHOP MISSIONARY. - - Where Muscat fronts the Orient sun - ’Twixt heaving sea and rocky steep, - His work of mercy scarce begun, - A saintly soul has fallen asleep: - Who comes to lift the Cross instead? - Who takes the standard from the dead? - - Where, under India’s glowing sky, - Agra the proud, and strong Lahore, - Lift roof and gleaming dome on high, - His “seven-toned tongue” is heard no more: - Who comes to sound alarm instead? - Who takes the clarion from the dead? - - Where white camps mark the Afghan’s bound, - From Indus to Suleiman’s range, - Through many a gorge and upland—sound - Tidings of joy divinely strange: - But there they miss his eager tread; - Who comes to toil then for the dead? - - Where smile Cheltonian hills and dales, - Where stretches Erith down the shore - Of Thames, wood-fringed and fleck’d with sails, - His holy voice is heard no more - Is it for nothing he is dead? - Send forth your children in his stead! - - Far from fair Oxford’s groves and towers, - Her scholar Bishop dies apart; - He blames the ease of cultured hours - In death’s still voice that shakes the heart. - Brave saint! for dark Arabia dead! - I go to fight the fight instead! - - O Eastern-lover from the West! - Thou hast out-soared these prisoning bars; - Thy memory, on thy Master’s breast, - Uplifts us like the beckoning stars. - We follow now as thou hast led; - Baptize us, Saviour, for the dead! - —_Archdeacon A. E. Moule._ - - - - - XXXIII - - THE AMERICAN ARABIAN MISSION - - “Our ultimate object is to occupy the interior of Arabia.”—_Plan of - the Arabian Mission._ - - “To such an appeal there can be but one reply. The Dutch Reformed - Church when it took up the mission originally commenced on an - independent basis as the Arabian Mission, did so with full knowledge - of the plans and purposes of its founders, which, as the very title - of the mission shows, embraced nothing less than such a comprehensive - scheme of evangelization as that above described.”—_Major-General F. - T. Haig._ - - “It is not keeping expenses down, but keeping faith and enthusiasm - up, that gives a clear balance sheet. Give the Church heroic - leadership, place before it high ideals, keep it on the march for - larger conquests, and the financial problem will take care of itself. - If the Church sees that we are not going to trust God enough to - venture upon any work for Him till we have the money in sight, it will - probably adopt the same prudence in making contributions, and our - good financiering will be with heavy loss of income.”—_The Christian - Advocate._ - - -“The Arabian Mission was organized August 1st, 1889, and its first -missionary, Rev. James Cantine, sailed for the field October 16th of -the same year. In order to trace the steps that led to the organization -of this first American Mission to Arabia, we must go back a year -earlier. - -In the Theological Seminary of the Reformed (Dutch) Church at New -Brunswick, New Jersey, the missionary spirit was especially active -during the year 1888. This was fostered by members of the faculty who -had a warm love for that work, by a missionary lectureship recently -inaugurated, by the missionary alumni of the seminary, and by some -of the students themselves who brought missions to the front. Among -these students were James Cantine and Philip T. Phelps of the senior -class, and Samuel M. Zwemer of the middle class, who had individually -decided to work abroad, God willing, and who used to meet for prayer -and consultation regarding the choice of a field of labor. The first -meeting of this band was held on October 31st, 1888, and the topic -discussed was, “what constitutes a call to the Foreign field?” After -that they met almost every week, and gradually the idea took shape of -banding themselves together to begin pioneer work in some one of the -unoccupied fields. Tibet and Central Africa were mentioned; but their -thoughts generally seemed to unite on some Arabic-speaking country -especially Nubia or the upper Nile. The Seminary library was ransacked -for information on these fields, without definite results. At the -end of November the band decided to consult with their Hebrew and -Arabic professor, Rev. J. G. Lansing, D. D., who, being of missionary -parentage and full of the missionary passion, warmly welcomed their -confidence and from that time became associated with them in their -plans. After some time it was mutually agreed that God called them to -pioneer work in some portion of the Mohammedan world in or adjacent to -Arabia. - -Over against this Divine call there appeared a great human difficulty: -the fact that the church to which they belonged and owed allegiance -conducted no missions in the Mohammedan world. The Mission Board of -that church was already burdened with a debt of $35,000, and therefore -it was improbable that they would establish such a work in addition to -their other mission work. In spite of these obstacles, however, it was -decided, February 11, 1899, to make formal application to the Board, -and on May 23d the following plan was drawn up, and presented to the -Board of Foreign Missions: - - “We the undersigned desiring to engage in pioneer mission work in - some Arabic-speaking country, and especially in behalf of Moslems and - slaves, do at the outset recognize the following facts: - - 1. The great need and encouragement for this work at the present time. - - 2. The non-existence of such mission work under the supervision of our - Board of Foreign Missions at the present time. - - 3. The fact that hitherto little has been done in the channels - indicated. - - 4. The inability of our Board to inaugurate this work under its - present status. - - Therefore, that the object desired may be realized, we respectfully - submit to the Board, and with their endorsement to the church at - large, the following propositions: - - 1. The inauguration of this work at as early a time as possible. - - 2. The field to be Arabia, the upper Nile or any other field, - subject to the statement of the preamble, that shall be deemed most - advantageous, after due consideration. - - 3. The expenses of said mission to be met (_a_) by yearly - subscriptions in amounts of from five to two hundred dollars; the - subscribers of like amounts to constitute a syndicate with such - organization as shall be deemed desirable; (_b_) by syndicates of such - individuals, churches and organizations as shall undertake the support - of individual missionaries, or contribute to such specific objects as - shall be required by the mission. - - 4. These syndicates shall be formed and the financial pledges made - payable for a term of five years. - - 5. At the expiration of this period of five years the mission shall - pass under the direct supervision of our Board as in the case of - our other missions. Should the Board still be financially unable, - syndicates shall be re-formed and pledges re-taken. - - 6. In the meantime the mission shall be generally under the care of - the Board ... through whose hands its funds shall pass. - - 7. The undersigned request the approval of the Board to this - undertaking in general, and particularly in the matter of soliciting - subscriptions. - - (Signed.) J. G. LANSING, - JAS. CANTINE, - P. T. PHELPS, - S. M. ZWEMER.” - -This plan was first presented to the Board on June 3d, when it was -provisionally accepted to be referred to the General Synod. On June -11th, the Synod, after a long and ardent discussion, referred the -whole matter back to the Board, asking them “carefully to consider the -whole question and, should the Board see their way clear, that they be -authorized to inaugurate the mission proposed.” On June 26th the Board -met and passed the following resolution: - - “_Resolved_, That, while the Board is greatly interested in the - proposition to engage in mission work among the Arabic speaking - peoples, the work in which the Board is already engaged is so great - and so constantly growing, and the financial condition of the Board - is such (its debt at that time being $35,000), that the Board feels - constrained to decline to assume any responsibility in the matter. - - “If, however, during the next four months, such a degree of interest - in Foreign Missions should be developed in the churches as to reduce - the amount to which the treasury is now overdrawn to a small fraction, - then the Board would feel inclined to favor that important enterprise.” - -Meanwhile the plan had been fully discussed in the church papers, -and although there were warm friends of the enterprise who earnestly -plead by pen and purse for its inauguration, the current generally -ran dead against the proposal, and much cold water was thrown on the -enterprise.[148] - -How those felt who were most concerned in the decision was expressed -by Professor Lansing, on their behalf, in the following words: “The -writer and the individuals named are deeply grateful to General Synod -for its hearty reception and advocacy of the proposed mission. And, -on the other hand, they not only have no word of complaint to utter -in regard to the action of the Board, but are grateful to the Board -for the careful consideration they have given the matter, and deeply -sympathize with them in the sorrow which they and all must feel in -connection with the adverse action taken. But this does not discharge -the responsibility. A responsibility Divinely imposed is not discharged -by any admission of existing human difficulty.... When God calls we -must obey, not object. And also when God calls to some specific work, -then He must have some way by which that work can be done.” - -After much thought and prayer a plan was adopted for conducting this -work. The motto of the new mission appeared at the head: “Oh that -Ishmael might live before Thee.” After the preamble, similar to the -original plan, there are the following sections: - - “1. This missionary movement shall be known as The Arabian Mission. - - 2. The field, so far as at present it is possible to be determined, - shall be Arabia and the adjacent coast of Africa. - - 3. Selected by and associated with the undersigned shall be a - Committee of Advice, composed of four contributors, to assist in - advancing the interests of this mission. - - 4. In view of the fact that this mission is of necessity - undenominational in its personnel and working, contributions are - solicited from any and all to whom this may come, without reference to - denominational adherence. - - 5. The amount required to carry on the work of this mission will - be the sum necessary to meet the equipment and working expenses of - the individuals approved of and sent to engage in the work of this - mission. No debt shall be incurred and no salaries be paid to other - than missionaries. - - 6. It is desired that the amount subscribed _shall not interfere with - the individual’s regular denominational contributions to foreign - missions_.... - - 7. Of the undersigned the first party shall be Treasurer, and have - general oversight of the interests of the mission at home and as such - shall render an annual statement, while the missionaries in the field - shall have the direction of those interests abroad....” - -The rough draft of this plan was drawn up at Pine Hill Cottage, in the -Catskills, on August 1st. A few days later, while the band was at the -old Cantine homestead, Stone Ridge, New York, Dr. Lansing composed the -Arabian Mission hymn, which will always be an inspiration to those who -love Arabia; but it will never be sung with deeper feeling than it was -for the first time, in an upper room, by three voices. - -[Illustration: THE ARABIAN MISSIONARY HYMN. -Facsimile of the original copy composed by Prof. J. G. Lansing in 1889, -at Stone Ridge, N. Y.] - -When the plan was published, the Rubicon was crossed, although not -without the loss of one name from among the signers. Contributions -began to come in, the Committee of Advice was selected, and the -mission was incorporated. Among other tokens of favor the mission -received at this juncture from Catherine Crane Halstead, a legacy, of -nearly five thousand dollars—the largest gift, and the only legacy -received by the Arabian Mission in the past decade. This unexpected and -providential donation was encouraging and enabled the mission to begin -work immediately. - -On October 1st James Cantine was ordained by the Classis of Kingston -in the Fair Street Reformed Church and he sailed for Syria on October -16th, stopping at Edinburgh to consult with the Free Church of -Scotland Committee regarding cooperation with their mission at Aden. -The proposition was cordially welcomed but was not acted upon since -at Sheikh Othman, it was afterwards mutually agreed that more would -probably be accomplished if the missions worked separately. The second -member of the band to leave for the field was ordained by the Classis -of Iowa, at Orange City, and sailed on June 28th, 1890. - -The two pioneers left Syria for Cairo at the end of November to meet -Professor Lansing who was in Egypt for his health. On December 18th Mr. -Cantine left by direct steamer for Aden, and on January 8th, 1891, the -writer followed in an Egyptian coasting steamer, desiring to call at -Jiddah and Hodeidah, and to meet General Haig, who was then at Suakin -in charge of rescue work for orphans after the war.[149] My journey -down the Red Sea was made in company with the aged Bishop French, -though neither of us ever heard of the other before we met on the train -to take the same ship at Suez. We then learned for the first time that -both were bound for the same point with the same object, to preach -Christ to the Arabs. - -From Aden the two American missionaries made it their first task to -explore the points suggested by General Haig for missionary occupation. -One, Mr. Cantine, journeyed northward to the country of the Sultan -of Lahaj, while the other sailed along the southern coast in company -with Kamil, the Syrian convert from Islam. This earnest young disciple -had become acquainted with Mr. Cantine in Syria, and early expressed -a desire to join in the work for Arabia. He loved the Scriptures -and never shrank from obstacles which stood in the way of faith or -service. His biography, by Dr. Henry Jessup, shows what he surrendered -for Christ; only the day of days will show how much he accomplished -for Arabia. On May 26th, 1891, Mr. Cantine sailed to visit Muscat and -the Persian Gulf, with the understanding that his co-laborer should -meanwhile attempt the journey to Sana and study the possible openings -for work in Yemen. The news of Bishop French’s death had already -reached Aden. Mr. Cantine tarried at Muscat a fortnight, after which he -visited Bahrein and other ports of the Gulf, going on finally to Busrah -and Bagdad. The importance of Busrah as a mission centre was evident. -In population, accessibility and strategic location it was superior to -other places in Eastern Arabia. Here seemed to be the place to drive -the opening wedge. - -Meanwhile a twenty-days’ journey to Sana and the villages of Yemen -on the Hodeidah route, had shown the importance of Sana as a centre -of operations, as is shown from the following written at that time: -“It has advantages of large population, central location, importance -of position and healthfulness of climate. Mail comes weekly and a -telegraph connects with the outside world. Its disadvantages are, -a Turkish government and the consequent difficulties of open and -aggressive work. Like the road from Hodeidah to Sana, it will be -uphill work, through mountains and strong places, but in both cases -you reach Arabia Felix.” On meeting Mr. Cantine at Busrah, however, -the arguments for Yemen were set aside, and it was agreed that it was -best to make Busrah the first headquarters. It was never thought at the -time that Yemen’s highlands would, after ten years, still be without a -missionary. - -[Illustration: THE OLD MISSION HOUSE AT BUSRAH.] - -[Illustration: THE KITCHEN OF THE OLD MISSION HOUSE, BUSRAH.] - -Dr. M. Eustace was then at Busrah, doing dispensary-work for the poor -and acting as physician to the European community. He welcomed the -missionaries and worked with them heartily until he was transferred -to the Church Missionary Society hospital at Quetta. His departure -emphasized the power of a medical missionary among Moslems, and the -missionaries made a strong plea for a physician to join them. In -January, 1892, the Board of Trustees sent out Dr. C. E. Riggs, a man -with testimonials of his standing as a physician and a member of an -Evangelical church, but who, shortly after reaching the field, avowed -his disbelief in the divinity of Christ. His commission was revoked -and he soon returned to America. After several strange adventures this -singular yet lovable man reached Chicago, was converted under the -preaching of D. L. Moody at the World’s Fair, and died at his home in -New Orleans about a year later. It was a long way to the Father’s house -but proves the power of prayer, and that God never forgets His own. - -On June 24th of the same year faithful Kamil, rightly named Abd El -Messiah (servant of Christ), was called to his reward. His illness was -so sudden and the circumstances that attended his death so suspicious -that we cannot but believe that he died a martyr by poison. He was the -strongest man of the mission in controversy with Moslems, and a most -lovable character, so that the report of that year truthfully states, -“our loss in his death is unmeasured.” - -These two successive blows were very serious and now two other losses -followed. Yakoob, another Moslem convert, who had been in mission -employ, and whose wife received baptism at Busrah, was arrested and -prevented from returning to our field. Also one of the two efficient -colporteurs employed by the mission, left to seek his fortune in -America. The continued illness of Dr. Lansing in the home land and -a decrease in contributions likewise cast a shadow on the work. But -faith grew stronger by trial. In the quarterly letter, near the close -of this year, we read: “The experience of the missionaries ever -since arriving at Aden, their tours along the coast and inland, the -opportunities for work along the Euphrates, the Tigris and the Gulf, -and the deep consciousness that our mission is called of God to carry -the gospel into the interior of Arabia—all prompt us to make a special -plea at this time for additional workers. There are several points near -Busrah where permanent work should be inaugurated without delay, and -places like Bahrein, Muscat or Sana are equally, perhaps more, open to -the gospel than Busrah itself.... _If the Arabian mission is to be true -to its name and purpose, it must occupy Arabia._” This was followed -by an appeal for five new men and the request that, should means be -lacking to send them out, salaries be reduced, “confident that the best -way to increase contributions is by extending our work and trusting -that God will provide for the future.” - -The mission was at this time passing through a period of determined -opposition and open hostility on the part of the Turkish local -government. Colporteurs were arrested; the Bible shop sealed up; books -confiscated; and a guard placed at the door of the house occupied by -the missionaries. A petition was sent to the Sublime Porte to expel -the mission. But the opposition was short-lived and the petition never -accomplished its purpose. In December Rev. Peter J. Zwemer joined the -mission in Busrah. The difficulties in the way of securing a residence -were at first very great and frequent change of abode was detrimental -to the work. Arrangements were likewise made during this year to carry -on all the Bible work for the British and Foreign Bible Society in the -region occupied by the mission. - -The chief event of the next year was the occupation of Bahrein as a -second station. Although the first attempt to open a Bible shop and to -secure a residence on the islands was fraught with exceeding difficulty -and much opposition, the attempt was successful, and at the close of -the first year over two hundred portions of Scripture had been sold. A -journey was made into the province of Hassa and the eastern threshold -of Arabia was thus crossed for the first time by a missionary. At -Busrah the evangelistic work and Bible circulation made progress, but -medical work was at a standstill. Cholera visited both stations and -greatly interfered with the work; many people fled from Busrah, and -at Bahrein the total number of deaths was over five thousand. Peter -Zwemer kept lonely watch on the islands at that time; his only servant -died of cholera and he himself could not get away as no ship would take -passengers. - -Early in 1894 the good news came that Dr. James T. Wyckoff had been -appointed to join the mission. Sailing on January 6th, and going via -Constantinople to secure his Turkish diploma he arrived at Busrah in -March. But the joy of welcoming a medical missionary was short-lived, -for after a brief stay at Busrah he went to Bahrein where a severe -attack of chronic dysentery soon compelled him to return to Busrah -and subsequently to Kerachi and America. Thus the mission lost its -third medical missionary, and his successor did not come out until the -following year. - -Muscat was visited by Peter Zwemer as early as December, 1893, and his -reports of this port as a prospective centre for work in Oman were so -encouraging after several exploration journeys, that it was decided to -allow him to occupy the station. - -During the summer of 1894, the writer, at the request and expense of -the Mildmay Mission to the Jews, made a journey to Sana, to distribute -Hebrew New Testaments. It was also hoped that it would be possible for -him to cross from Sana to Bahrein, by way of Wady Dauasir. But the -theft of all his money even before reaching Sana and his arrest by the -Turks, prevented the attempt. - -After many trials incident to the economical administration of the -mission at home, negotiations were concluded in June, 1894, by -which it was transferred to the management and care of the Board of -Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church. The distinct existence of -the corporation is still preserved, but the trustees are chosen from -among the members of the Foreign Mission Board. No other departures -from former methods were made, save that the administration was now in -experienced hands and at less expense than formerly. The change was -cordially accepted by nearly all the missionaries and the contributors; -now no one questions its wisdom and benefit. - -The year 1895 was another trying year to the mission, but there -were also blessings. The departure of Rev. James Cantine to America -on furlough, after nearly seven years in Arabia, necessitated the -transferral of the writer to Busrah and so left Bahrein practically -uncared for. The missionaries and native helpers suffered more than -usual from the enervating climate, and touring from both Muscat and -Bahrein was made impossible for a large part of the year by tribal wars -and troubles. In February the Bedouins attacked Muscat and captured -the town; the place was given over to pillage and over two hundred -lives were lost; the mission-house and shop were looted and Peter -Zwemer took refuge at the British consulate. At Bahrein a similar -trouble threatened for months and terror reigned, but the disturbance -never reached the islands and the unruly Arabs were punished by -English gunboats. At Busrah the Bible work was stopped by the Turkish -authorities; the shop closed and colporteurs arrested. The arrival of -Dr. H. R. Lankford Worrall at Busrah, on April 21st, with a Turkish -diploma, once more gave the mission the golden key to the hearts of -the people. Dr. Worrall has used it faithfully, although his severe -illness the first summer almost made the mission despair of the health -of doctors. - -Mr. Cantine visited the churches in America and greatly stimulated -interest, prayer and offerings, although no new missionaries were found -willing and suitable for the field. - -At the end of the year Amara was opened as an out-station in the midst -of much opposition but greater blessing. Even during this year earnest -inquirers in this fanatical river village gladdened the hearts of the -workers. - -Work for the women of Eastern Arabia was begun in 1896 by Amy Elizabeth -Wilkes Zwemer, who left the Church Mission Society mission at Bagdad -to be married to Rev. S. M. Zwemer. First at Busrah, then at Bahrein -and Kateef she inaugurated the work which only a woman can do in Moslem -lands. Extensive tours were made by the colporteurs and by Peter -Zwemer. The entire region north of Muscat as far as Someil and Rastak, -even to Jebel Achdar, was penetrated by the missionary and colporteurs. -One of the latter visited the so-called “pirate coast” south of Katar -and sold over a hundred portions of Scripture. The following table -shows the increase of Scripture sales by the mission at all of its -stations. More than five-sixths of these copies were sold to Moslems: - - 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 - 620 825 1,760 2,313 2,805 1,779 2,010 2,464 over 3,700 - -At Busrah first fruits were gathered after these years of sowing in -two remarkable cases. A soldier at Amara accepted Christ and came to -Busrah for instruction; this man has since “suffered the loss of all -things” and “witnessed a good confession” wherever he has been dragged -as an exile or driven as an apostate. Another convert was a middle-aged -Persian who was deeply convicted of sin by reading a copy of Luke’s -gospel in the dispensary at Busrah. He was a consumptive, and after -finding peace in Christ, left Busrah for Shiraz. - -In the autumn Mr. Cantine returned to the field, but the following -February Mr. and Mrs. S. M. Zwemer departed on furlough, so that, with -no reinforcements, the mission-staff remained insufficient. The work -at Bahrein not only stood still, but, because of the unfaithfulness of -a native helper, retrograded. Muscat was, on the contrary, increasing -in importance. A school was begun by Mr. P. J. Zwemer, when eighteen -helpless African boys, rescued from a slave-dhow, were handed over to -his care. The little hand press in the mission-house sent forth its -first message; a tract comparing Christ and Mohammed, which stirred -thought as well as opposition. It was the first Christian writing ever -printed in Arabia and its simple message is prophetic: “Mohammed or -Christ, on whom do you rely?” - -About this time the American Bible Society took over the work of Bible -distribution at Bahrein and Muscat by an annual appropriation to the -mission which enabled it to extend this department of work. - -At Busrah the medical work drew many within hearing of the gospel and -Dr. Worrall was able to open work at Nasariyeh. At Amara the seed once -more fell on good soil, and a small band of inquirers came together for -prayer, but the harvest is not yet. - -At the close of 1897, Rev. F. J. Barny, supported by the young people -of the Marble Collegiate Church, New York City, came to the field, and -began language study. - -The year 1898 is fresh in the memory of all those who are interested -in the Arabian Mission. During it Peter Zwemer, after having gone to -America, was called to his reward and four new missionaries sent out -into the harvest field to sow the seed of the kingdom. Two of them, -Miss Margaret Rice (now Mrs. Barny) and Rev. George E. Stone, sailed -with Mr. and Mrs. S. M. Zwemer on their return in August. The other -two, Dr. Sharon J. Thoms and Dr. Marion Wells Thoms, of the University -of Michigan, came to the field in December, 1898. Mr. Stone has now -also gone to his reward—the third of the Arabian Mission to lay down -his life for Arabia. - - - - - XXXIV - - IN MEMORIAM—PETER J. ZWEMER AND GEO. E. STONE - - -A skillful and loving hand has laid a wreath of immortelles on the -unknown grave of Kamil; his biography will live. We can only briefly -record our love and admiration for those other two of the Arabian -Mission, who “loved not their lives unto the death,” but “hazarded -their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” - -PETER JOHN ZWEMER was born at South Holland, Illinois, near Chicago, on -September 2d, 1868. His childhood was spent in a loving Christian home -surrounded by gracious influences and the prayers of godly parents. In -1880 he entered the preparatory department of Hope College, Holland, -Michigan, and was finally graduated from the college in 1888. He -was the only one of his class to choose the foreign field, and for -it he sought special preparation after graduation, by work as Bible -colporteur in Western Pennsylvania and New York, and a year of teaching -in Iowa. In 1892 he was graduated from the New Brunswick Theological -Seminary, and on September 14th, of the same year, was ordained at -Grand Rapids, Michigan, and sailed for Arabia on October 19th. From -the day of his arrival on the field to the day of his death his first -thought was gospel work for the Arabs. He was of a practical turn -of mind, and had no visionary ideas nor desire for martyrdom, but a -sturdy, steady purpose to make his life tell. He was eager to meet -men, keen to grasp opportunities, a cosmopolitan in spirit always and -everywhere. A student of character rather than of books, he preferred -to make two difficult journeys rather than report one. He loved to -teach and knew how to do it. Sympathy for the weak and suffering and a -hatred for all shams were prominent traits. He endeared himself even to -those from whom he differed in opinion or conduct by his whole-hearted -sincerity and earnest advocacy of his views. Arabia was to him a school -of faith; his Christian character ripened into full fruitage through -much suffering. Mr. Cantine wrote of him: - -“Our personal relations were perhaps more intimate than those usually -known by the missionaries of our scattered stations. I was at Busrah to -welcome him when in 1892 he responded to our first call for volunteers, -and was also the one to say good-bye a few months ago as he left behind -him the rocks and hills of Muscat and Oman, among which the precious -cruse of his strength had been broken for the Master’s service. His -course was more trying than that of the others of our company, as he -came among us when the impulse and enthusiasm which attach to the -opening of a new work were beginning to fail, and before our experience -had enabled us to lessen some of the trials and discomforts of a -pioneer effort. A thorough American, appreciating and treasuring the -memory of the civilization left behind, he yet readily adapted himself -to the conditions here found. Of a sensitive nature, he keenly felt any -roughness from friend or foe, but I never knew him on that account to -show any bitterness or to shirk the performance of any recognized duty. - -“Of those qualities which make for success in our field he had not a -few. His social instincts led him at once to make friends among the -Arabs, and while his vocabulary was still very limited, he would spend -hours in the coffee-shops and in the gathering-places of the town. -His exceptional musical talents also attracted and made for him many -acquaintances among those he was seeking to reach, besides proving -a constant pleasure to his associates and a most important aid in -all our public services. And many a difficulty was surmounted by his -hopefulness and buoyancy of disposition, which even pain and sickness -could not destroy.” - -[Illustration: Hon. Ion Keith Falconer -Rev. Peter J. Zwemer -Bishop Valpy French -Kamil Abdel Messiah -FOUR MISSIONARY MARTYRS OF ARABIA.] - -His short period of service in Arabia was longer than that of either -Keith Falconer or Bishop French and although their lives have perhaps -exerted a much wider influence, his has left larger fruitage on Arabian -soil. Of his sickness and death the Rev. H. N. Cobb, D. D., Secretary -of the mission wrote: - -“When the station at Muscat was opened in 1893 it was assigned to him. -From that time until May of the present year Muscat was his home. -There he remained alone most of the time. Frequent attacks of fever -prostrated him, unsanitary and unpleasant conditions surrounded him, -the heat, constant and intense, often overwhelmed him; still he clung -heroically to his post, uttering no word of complaint, and quitting -it only when mission business made it necessary, or tours were to -be undertaken along the coast or in the interior, or when prolonged -attacks of fever and the preservation of life made a limited absence -imperative. When one considers all that he endured, the wonder is not -that he died, but that he lived as long as he did. No higher heroism -fought, suffered and at last succumbed at Santiago. He had become so -much reduced by repeated attacks of fever and rheumatism that it was -thought wise last year that he should leave Arabia and come home. His -desire was to remain until next year, 1899, but in the early part -of this year it became evident that he must not remain. When in the -latter part of May he left Arabia, his weakness was so great that he -was carried on board the steamer. On the homeward way, though writing -back cheerfully concerning his improvement to those whom he had left -behind, he grew gradually worse, and when he arrived in this country -on the evening of July 12, was taken immediately to the Presbyterian -Hospital through the kind assistance of a student for orders in the -Roman Catholic Church. Those who have visited him there, and they have -been many, have been struck by his cheerfulness, his hopeful courage, -his anxious desire to recover, that he might return to his field and -work, and yet his willing submission to his Father’s will.” - -He clung to life with a grip of steel and laughed at the idea the -doctors had of his approaching death because he could not believe that -his work was done. “I have done nothing yet and when I go back this -time I will be ready to begin work,” were his words. Yet he had no fear -of death. His eye never turned away from Arabia; he longed to plant -the plough once more in the stony soil of Oman and to teach the most -ignorant the way of life. From his dying bed he sent to the committee -a report regarding changes necessary in the house at Muscat. His hand, -almost too weak to hold a pen, wrote on October 7th: “Dear father—I am -slowly but surely improving and may be home soon. Now the board has -authorized me to complete the building-fund. I have just secured $100 -for a Muscat touring boat. Dr. and Mrs. Thoms sailed this morning for -Arabia, _laus Deo!_ I felt sorry I could not divide myself and go with -them ... patiently longing I wait His time.” - -Even later than this, when he could no longer write, he dictated -letters regarding the work at home and in the field. On the evening of -Tuesday, October 18th, 1898, six weeks after his thirtieth birthday he -quietly fell asleep. “His time” had come. After a brief service, the -body was taken by loving hands to Holland, Michigan, and laid to rest -in the sure and certain hope of a glorious resurrection. But his heart -rests in Arabia and his memory will remain longest where he suffered -most and where his fellowship was so blessed. - - “O blest communion! fellowship divine! - We feebly struggle, they in glory shine - Yet all are one in Thee for all are Thine. - Hallelujah! - - “And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,— - Steals on the ear the distant triumph-song - And hearts are brave again and arms are strong. - Hallelujah!” - - - GEORGE E. STONE. - -On the twenty-sixth of June, 1899, George E. Stone died of heat -apoplexy at the coast town of Birka a few miles east of Muscat. On -Thursday the twenty-second of that month, in company with a colporteur, -he left Muscat, for a few days change. He was in fairly good health, -although suffering from boils. Monday morning he had a little fever; -in the afternoon it came again and in a few hours he had departed. His -body was taken to Muscat by the colporteur and there buried near the -grave of Bishop French. - -Rev. George E. Stone was born on September 1st, 1873, at Mexico, Oswego -County, New York. He was graduated from Hamilton College in 1895, and -from the Auburn Theological Seminary in 1898. Toward the close of his -studies his thoughts were drawn to the foreign field and he became a -“student volunteer.” The reason for his decision was characteristic -of the man. As he himself expressed it in his inimitable five-minute -speech at the General Synod: “I tried in every possible way to avoid -going to the foreign field but I had no peace. I go from a sense of -obedience.” He first heard of the special needs of Arabia through a -former classmate who represented Union Seminary at the New Brunswick -Inter-Seminary Conference in November, 1897. Shortly after he wrote for -information about the field, and without further hesitancy he applied -and was accepted. Ordained by the Presbytery of Cayuga at Syracuse, he -sailed with the mission party in August, 1898. - -George Stone was a man of much promise; altogether a character of one -piece without seam or rent. Sturdy, manly, straightforward, humble and -honest to the core. He was entirely unconventional and did not know -what it was to try to make a good impression. He was simply natural. -With native tact and Yankee wit was joined a keen sense of duty and -a willingness to plod. Confessing that he was never intended for a -linguist he yet, by sheer application, made remarkably rapid progress -in Arabic. He made friends readily and was faithful to sow beside all -waters. No one could travel with him and not know that he was a fisher -of men; yet he was never obtrusive in his method. He had a splendid -constitution, and looked forward to a long life in Arabia, but God -willed otherwise. - -He was at Bahrein from October 9th until February 14th, when he left -for Muscat to take the place of Rev. F. J. Barny, who had been ill -with typhoid and was going on sick-leave to India. He was the only -person available at the time, although it was not a pleasant task for -a novice to be suddenly called to take care of a station of which he -knew little more than the name. Without a word of demur he left Bahrein -at three hours’ notice and sailed for Muscat. There he remained alone, -but faithful unto death, until June, when Rev. James Cantine arrived to -take charge of the work. His letters were always cheerful; he seemed to -grasp the situation, and with all its difficulties to see light above -the clouds. The following sentences from a few of his letters show what -sort of man he was. They were written in ordinary correspondence and -with no idea that the words would ever be treasured: - -“I was pretty certain that I should be sent to Muscat later on, but had -no idea of going so soon. However, it is all right. Anything that has -been prayed over as much as your decisions at Busrah, must have been -directed of God, and I have been under His orders for some time.... -I have had two or three fevers, but they are small affairs, sick one -day and well the next. No further news. I can only add my thankfulness -to God for the way He has led me through the last two months and for -giving me a share from the beginning in actual mission-work.... Many -thanks for the report. I can learn a great deal from it to help out my -ignorance. I do feel like a baby before this great work but, as the -darkies used to sing the Lord is ‘inching me along.’ ... - -“Pray for me that I may have wisdom and grace to carry this business -through. I want it settled right.” - -To his Auburn friends he wrote this in a characteristic letter: - -“You ask what I think of it now that I am on the spot. First: that the -need has not been exaggerated, and that Mohammedanism is as bad as it -is painted. Second: that we have a splendid fighting chance here in -Arabia, and the land is open enough so that we can enter if we will. -If a man never got beyond the Bahrein Islands he would have a parish -of 50,000 souls. Third: that on account of the ignorance of the people -they must be taught by word of mouth and therefore if we are to reach -them all, we must have many helpers. Fourth: that I am glad I came to -Arabia, and that to me has been given a part in this struggle. I do -firmly believe that the strength of Islam has been overestimated, and -that if ever the Church can be induced to throw her full weight against -it, it will be found an easier conquest than we imagine—_not but what -it will cost lives_, it has always been so, but I do believe that Islam -is doomed.” - -Little did he think, perhaps, _whose_ life it would first cost. Will -his call be heeded and will the Church, will you, help to throw the -whole weight of your prayers against Islam? “Except a corn of wheat -fall into the ground and die it abideth alone, but if it die it -bringeth forth much fruit.” - - “The seed must die before the corn appears - Out of the ground in blade and fruitful ears. - Low have those ears before the sickle lain, - Ere thou canst treasure up the golden grain. - The grain is crushed before the bread is made; - And the bread broke ere life to man conveyed. - Oh, be content to die, to be laid low, - And to be crushed, and to be broken so, - If thou upon God’s table may be bread, - Life-giving food for souls an hungered.” - - - - - XXXV - - PROBLEMS OF THE ARABIAN FIELD - - “A word as to the task your mission attempts. It is to me the - hardest in the whole mission-field. To conquer Mohammedanism is to - capture Satan’s throne and I think it involves the greatest conflict - Christianity has ever known. In attacking Arabia you aim at the - citadel of supreme error occupied by the last enemy that shall bow to - the kingship of Christ.”—_Rev. W. A. Essery_, Hon. Secretary of the - Turkish Mission Aid Society. - - “While the difficulties in the way of missionary work in lands under - Mohammedan rule may well appear to the eye of sense most formidable, - this meeting is firmly persuaded, that, so long as the door of access - to individual Mohammedans is open, so long it is the clear and - bounden duty of the Church of Christ to make use of its opportunities - for delivering the gospel message to them, in full expectation - that the power of the Holy Spirit will, in God’s good time, have - a signal manifestation in the triumph of Christianity in those - lands.”—_Resolution of the Church Missionary Society_, May 1st, 1888. - - -The problem of missionary work in Arabia is twofold: (1) the general -problem of Mohammedanism as a political-religious system which Arabia -has in common with all Moslem lands; and (2) the special problems or -difficulties which pertain to Arabia in particular. - -The general problem of missions to Moslems is too vast and important to -be treated here. Dr. George Smith says that “the great work to which -the providence of God summons the church in the second century of -modern missions is that of evangelizing the Mohammedans.” It is _the_ -missionary problem of the future. Dr. H. H. Jessup, who speaks of it as -“a work of surpassing difficulty, which will require a new baptism of -apostolic wisdom and energy, faith and love” gives the elements of the -problem in his book.[150] As unfavorable features he enumerates, (1) -the union of the temporal and spiritual power, (2) the divorce between -morality and religion, (3) Ishmaelitic intolerance, (4) destruction of -true family life, (5) the degradation of woman, (6) gross immorality, -(7) untruthfulness, (8) misrepresentation of Christian doctrine, and -(9) the aggressive spirit of Islam. Among the favorable features he -names: (1) belief in the unity of God, (2) reverence for the Old -and New Testament, (3) and for Christ, (4) hatred of idolatry, (5) -abstinence from intoxicating drink, (6) the growing influence of -Christian nations, (7) the universal belief of the Moslems that in the -latter days there will be a universal apostasy from Islam. In some -respects the problem has changed since Dr. Jessup’s book was written -but in its main outlines it remains the same. - -The problem of Arabia as a mission-field can best be studied by -considering in order: the land itself as regards its accessibility; the -climate and other special difficulties; the present missionary force; -the methods suited to the field; and the right men for the work. The -chapters on the geography of the peninsula show how different are the -various provinces and what are the strategic centres in each. It is -generally considered both a good missionary policy and a true apostolic -principle to work out from the _cities_ as centres of population -and influence. This is especially necessary in Arabia where the -population is scattered and largely nomadic. All nomads come to some -city or village for their supplies at frequent intervals or, if they -are independent of a foreign market, they bring their produce to the -cities. This by way of preface. - -First, what parts of Arabia are really _accessible_ to missionary -operations? (1) The Sinaitic peninsula with the adjoining coast of -Hejaz nearly as far as Yanbo; the population is mostly Bedouin but a -good centre for work would be the Egyptian quarantine station of Tor -in the Gulf of Suez. (2) Aden and the surrounding region under British -protection, with a population of perhaps 200,000 souls. (3) The entire -south coast from Aden to Makalla and Shehr with its _hinterland_; -this region has been freely visited by explorers and travellers, men -and women; the people are quite friendly and the natural base of -operations would be the town of Makalla. (4) Oman with its coast-towns -and hill-country, everywhere accessible; wherever missionaries have -tried to enter they have met with a welcome above all expectations. (5) -The so-called “pirate-coast” in East Arabia between Ras el Kheima and -Abu Thubi; many villages, all under British subsidy and with resident -native agents. (6) The islands of Bahrein. - -All of these regions are outside of _Turkish_ Arabia and are more -or less under the influence of Great Britain so that every kind of -missionary work is possible. No passports are required for travelling; -no special diplomas for the right to practice medicine; no censorship -of books; no official espionage or prohibition of residence. - -In Turkish Arabia the case is different, but it would be very incorrect -to say that Turkish Arabia is inaccessible. “The Turks are no doubt,” -as General Haig remarks, “a great obstacle, but we must give them their -due, and admit that they are not nearly so intolerant as some European -States, including Russia.” Only one portion of Turkish Arabia seems, at -present, to be wholly inaccessible, namely, the two sacred cities Mecca -and Medina. At present, we say, for it does not seem possible that -these twin-cities would long remain closed if the church had faith to -approach their doors and were ready to enter. - -Other portions of Turkish Arabia are accessible, at least to some -extent. (1) The entire coast of Hejaz is accessible; two cities, -Jiddah, and Hodeidah, are specially suited for medical mission work; -while it is not at all improbable that with proper faith and kindly -tact, the lovely town of Taif, that garden of Mecca, would harbor a -medical missionary. Doughty’s experiences seem to indicate that Taif is -not considered holy ground.[151] (2) Yemen, the Arabia Felix indeed; -with a splendid climate, a superior Arab population, numerous villages -and cities, and with marvellous fertility of soil. Surely these -highlands will not remain forever under the rod of oppression; when the -hour of deliverance comes, every village should have a mission-school -and every city a mission-station. Even now under the Turks work is -possible for the large _Jewish_ population. (3) Hassa with its capital -Hofhoof and Katif on the coast. (4) The vilayets of Busrah and Bagdad. -These four regions in Turkish Arabia are accessible, with three -limitations to missionary-work:—Every missionary must have proper -passports; no medical missionary can practice without a Constantinople -diploma; and no books or Bibles can be sold unless they have been -examined by a censor of the press and bear the seal of the government. -The passport matter is awkward at times but is not an insurmountable -barrier; where the government considers travelling safe, passports are -always given. The medical diploma requirement is not different from -the law of France and other countries; once in possession of such a -diploma, the leverage power of the Christian physician is increased -rather than limited. The third restriction prevents the distribution -of all controversial literature but admits the Bible and many other -Christian books; it is rather burdensome and irritating to one’s -patience but does not shut the door to real missionary work. Every copy -of the Arabic Scriptures printed at Beirut bears the _imprimatur_ of -the Ottoman Government—the sign and seal of the “Caliph” that the Word -of God shall have free course in his tottering empire. - -Finally there is the vast interior—Asir, Nejran, Yemama, Nejd, -Jebel Shammar—is that too accessible? The whole region is free from -Ottoman rule and, for the greater part, under one independent prince, -Abd-ul-Aziz, the successor of Ibn Rashid. But for the rest the question -must remain unanswered until a missionary has attempted to enter these -regions and has brought back a report. For travellers the whole of -the interior has proved accessible since the days of Palgrave; and -the presumptive evidence is that a missionary could also penetrate -everywhere even if he were not at first allowed to settle in any of the -towns. I have not the least doubt that a properly qualified medical -missionary with a thorough knowledge of the language would find not -only an open door but a warm welcome in the capital of Nejd or even at -Riad. - -Regarding the general accessibility of Arabia, General Haig wrote in -his report as follows: “There is no difficulty then about preaching the -gospel in Arabia if men can be found to face the consequences. The real -difficulty would be the protection of the converts. Most probably they -would be exposed to violence and death. The infant church might be a -martyr church at first, like that of Uganda, but that would not prevent -the spread of the truth or its ultimate triumph.” - -The climate of Arabia is, at present, an obstacle to missionary work, -but in the mountain ranges of Oman and Yemen as well as in all the -interior plateau of Nejd a healthful, bracing climate prevails. Now, -alas, while all work is still confined to the coast, we have perhaps -one of the most trying climates in the world. The intense heat of -summer (often 110° Fahrenheit in the shade) is aggravated by the -humidity of the atmosphere, and the dust raised by every wind. In the -winter, from December to March, the winds in the northern part of the -gulf and the Red Sea, are often cold and cutting and although the -temperature is more suited at that time to Europeans and Americans, it -appears to be less healthy for natives. The so-called gulf-fever of the -remittent type is very dangerous and convalescence is at times only -possible by leaving the gulf. Cholera and smallpox are not uncommon. -Ophthalmia is rife. Prickly heat in aggravated form, boils, and all the -insect plagues of Egypt are a cause of suffering in their season. - -Moslem fanaticism is not peculiar to Arabia nor is it more intense -or universal here than in any other purely Mohammedan land. The -fanaticism of the Arabs has been grossly exaggerated. The Wahabis -represent the extreme of exclusiveness and prejudice, but even among -them it is possible for a missionary to preach Christ and read the -Bible. Personal violence to the messenger of the gospel has proved in -ten years experience, almost unknown in any part of Arabia visited by -missionaries. Sometimes Bibles and books are collected by a fanatical -Mullah and consigned to the flames or the oblivion of an upper shelf -in his house. The fellows of the baser sort perpetrate insults and -annoyances at times in village-work or refuse hospitality. But we, in -Arabia, have never met with the strong anti-foreign feeling such as -seems to be prevalent, for example, in China. The prejudice is seldom -against the dress or manner or speech of the foreigner; even his -food is considered clean and no Arab would refuse to share his meal -with a Christian traveller. But there _is_ often a strong prejudice -against certain aspects of Christian doctrine, especially if crudely -or unwisely put. In an Arab coffee-shop it would be unsafe as well as -unwise to use the words “Son of God,” “death of Christ,” “Trinity” -etc., without a previous explanation. Yet on the whole the Arabs are -friendly to any stranger or guest and this friendliness is especially -strong toward Englishmen and on the coast, because of the clear -contrast between English and Ottoman or Arab rule. Commerce too with -its general integrity and “the word of an Englishman” has in a sense -been the handmaid of missions by disarming prejudice and opening Arab -eyes to the superiority of western civilization. - -From a missionary standpoint the population of Arabia can best be -divided into the illiterate and those who can read. The former class -are in the vast majority and include all the Bedouins with exceedingly -few exceptions. Taking the population at eight million, to say that -one half a million could read would be a large estimate. On this -account work for those who are able to read, by means of colportage and -bookshops, may be too highly rated as to its _extensive_ result; its -_intensive_ value no one will question. - -The problem of reaching the nomad population is a very serious -one. The data for a correct theory of work among them are yet to -be collected. Experience of work among them has been very limited; -indeed the only work of importance was that of Samuel Van Tassel in -North Arabia. As a class they are less religious than the town or -agricultural Arabs. One who has studied the subject writes: “The Arabs -[Bedouins] remain Mohammedans simply because they know of nothing -better; the Bedouins are Moslems only in name observing the prescribed -forms in the neighborhood of the towns, but speedily casting them aside -on regaining the desert. Yet there are men among them not without -reverent thoughts of the Creator, derived from the contemplation of His -works, thoughts which, according to Palmer, take sometimes the form -of solemn but simple prayer.” The character of missionary work among -this nomad population (perhaps one-fourth or fifth of the population -of the peninsula) will be very similar to that of James Gilmour among -the Mongols; and it will require men of his stamp to carry it on -successfully. - -[Illustration: POPULATION TOUCHED BY MISSION EFFORT. - - Aden, etc., 100,000. - Bahrein, 60,000. - Muscat, 20,000 - Busrah and Bagdad, 520,000 -] - -_The present missionary force in Arabia is utterly inadequate to supply -the needs even of that small portion of the field they have occupied._ -There are only _four_ points on a coast of four thousand miles where -there are missionaries. There is not a single missionary over ten miles -inland from this coast. No missionary has ever crossed the peninsula in -either direction. The total number of foreign missionaries in Arabia, -is less than a dozen—twelve workers, men and women, let us say, for a -population of 8,000,000 souls. - -[Illustration: AREA VISITED BY MISSIONARIES. - - Aden, etc., 8,000 square miles. - Bahrein, 400 “ “ - Muscat, 600 square miles. - Busrah and Bagdad, 71,000 “ “ ] - -The Keith Falconer Mission is not as strong in its numbers as when -Keith Falconer died. The Arabian Mission has only recently received -enough reinforcement to man its three stations permanently. There has -been too much of the spirit of experiment instead of the spirit of -enterprise; a corporal’s guard went out to attack the chief citadel -of the enemy. Bishop French was _alone_ when he died at Muscat. The -Arabian Mission waited years before they received reinforcements. What -is the spiritual need of Arabia to-day? Of the total area of the -peninsula only about _one-twelfth_ is in any way touched by missionary -effort. This does not mean that one-twelfth of the area is covered -by mission-stations and touring, but that in some way or other about -one-twelfth of the peninsula is “occupied” by organized mission-work in -its plan and purpose, day by day. As to the proportion of missionaries -to the population _ten men out of eleven have no opportunity in this -neglected country to hear the gospel even if they would_. - -The only part of Arabia that is fairly well occupied is the -River-country—that is the two vilayets of Bagdad and Busrah. Here -there are two stations and two out-stations on the rivers; colporteurs -and missionaries regularly visit the larger villages; several native -workers are in regular employ and the Bible Society is active. Yet in -these two vilayets nothing has ever yet been done for the large Bedouin -population, and there are only six foreign missionaries, men and women, -to a population (Turkish census) of 1,050,000 souls. - -Looking at Arabia by provinces: Hejaz has no missionary; Yemen (with -the exception of Sheikh Othman and Aden) has no missionary; Hadramaut -has no missionary; Nejd has no missionary; Hassa has no missionary; -Jebel Shammar and all the northern desert have no missionary; Oman has -_one_ missionary. Again, the following towns and cities are accessible, -but have not one witness for Christ: Sana, Hodeidah, Menakha, Zebid, -Damar, Taiz, Ibb, with forty smaller towns in Yemen; Makallah, Shehr, -and Shibam in Hadramaut; Rastak, Someil, Sohar, Sur, Abu Thubi, Dabai, -Sharka and other important towns in Oman; not to speak of the important -towns of Nejd and in Mesopotamia, still without any missionaries and -never visited by an evangelist. - -Arabia is in truth a neglected field, even now. Thus far the work has -been only preliminary; the evangelization of Arabia must yet begin; not -until every province is entered and every one of the strategic points -specified is occupied can we truly speak of Arabia as a mission-field. -Nor is the project visionary. Given the men and the means there is -not the slightest reason why the next decade should not see the entire -peninsula the field for some sort of missionary effort. The doors are -open, or they will open to the knock of faith. God still lives and -works. - -Regarding the best methods of mission-work in Arabia the experience -of missionaries in other Moslem lands is of the greatest value. The -story of the Church Missionary Society in the Punjab, that of the -North Africa Mission, and above all the work of the Rhenish Society -in Sumatra should be thoroughly familiar to every Arabian missionary. -Medical missions have their special place and power, but also their -special difficulties in pioneer work like that in Arabia. Surgery is -worth infinitely more than medicine among a people like the Arabs, -where fatalism and neglect of the sick make the science of medicine of -doubtful result in so many cases. “Kill or cure” rather than prolonged -treatment, suits the Moslem palate. But a skillful surgeon with a -Turkish diploma holds the key to every door in the entire peninsula. -There is not one mission-hospital in Arabia! Surely such centres as -Bagdad, Busrah, Bahrein, Sana, Jiddah, Hodeidah and Hofhoof should have -these acknowledged powerful methods of evangelization. At Aden and -Muscat there are Indian Government hospitals. - -Educational work is still absent or in its infancy as regards the -Moslem population, so that there are no data from which to formulate -theories as to its success. In some parts of Arabia schools might not -be permitted by the government; everywhere they would necessarily at -the outset be very elementary. - -Christian women, as experience has proved both in Yemen and -East Arabia, are welcomed everywhere. With or without medical -qualifications, but with hearts of love and sympathy for the poor, the -suffering and the miserable, they can enter every house or hut. Even -in the black tents of Kedar there are aching hearts and wretched homes -to which the gospel of peace and love can alone bring relief. Lady Ann -Blunt and Mrs. Theodore Bent have proved what women can do in Arabia -for the sake of science; will there be no Christian women who will -penetrate as far inland for the sake of their Saviour? - -Colportage is an approved mission-method especially in Arabia, since -the Bible and a full line of educational and religious literature is -ready to our hand from the Syrian and Egyptian missions. In Yemen -this work would be especially useful and practicable, but there it -has scarcely been attempted systematically. The problem is to find -men of the right stamp for the work. Men who are “willing to endure -hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ,” with tact and good temper -and the ability to talk with the simple-minded. Love is worth more than -learning in a colporteur. Good health and a clean Turkish passport -are two other requisites. Even this method of work is in its infancy; -there are many open doors for the Word of God that have never yet been -entered. - -Under evangelistic work come the problems of street-preaching, touring, -and the use or abuse of controversy. The best place for preaching at -stations is the mission-house itself, after the example of Paul (Acts -xxviii. 30, 31). On tours or in village-work the _mejlis_ of the sheikh -or the public coffee-shop makes a capital pulpit. In a small hand-book -for missionaries to Moslems by Rev. Arthur Brinckman, now out of -print,[152] I find the following admirable hints on public preaching to -Moslems which apply to Arabia also: - -“If possible always address your audience from above. Sitting down is -sometimes better than standing; you are not so likely to get excited, -the attitude is less war-like in appearance. Be with your back to a -wall if possible; there are many reasons for this. - -“When drawn into argument, keep on praying that you may speak slowly, -and with effect. When asked a question do not answer quickly—if you -do, you will be looked on as a sharp controversialist only; think -over your answer first, and give it most kindly and slowly. If possible -always quote a passage near the beginning or end of a Koran chapter and -there will be less delay in finding it.” - -[Illustration: THE BIBLE SHOP AT BUSRAH.] - -[Illustration: INTERIOR OF A NATIVE SHOP.] - -The question of the right place of _controversy_ or whether it should -have a place at all in mission-work among Moslems is of the highest -importance. Opinions differ decidedly among those who are pillars -of the truth. The best and briefest argument _against_ the use of -controversy is that given by Spurgeon in one of his early sermons at -New Park Street Chapel.[153] He argues in brief that a missionary is -a witness, not a debater, and is only responsible for proclaiming the -gospel by his lips and by his life. - -There is truth in this, but on the other hand even the apostles -“disputed” in the synagogues with the Jews, and from the days of -saintly Martyn (not to say Raymond Lull), until now, the Christian -missionary has been compelled by the very force of circumstances -to vindicate the honor of Christ and establish the evidences of -Christianity by means of controversy. When, in July, 1864, the Turkish -government persuaded Sir Henry Bulwer to sign the death-warrant to all -missionary work among Moslems in the Turkish empire by the memorandum -that made controversy a crime, the fact was immediately recognized. -Rev. J. Ridgeway, then the editorial secretary of the Church Missionary -Society, wrote an able paper in the _Church Missionary Intelligencer_ -on the theme: “_Missionary work as regards Mohammedans impossible -if controversy be interdicted._” “By controversy,” he wrote, “we -understand not acrimonious and irritating recriminations, which, well -aware how unbecoming and injurious they are, the missionaries have -always eschewed, but that calm investigation of conflicting religious -systems that is indispensable to the decision of the important -question—which is true and which is false?”[154] - -It is only in this sense that controversy is justifiable; and this kind -of controversy, whether by the printed page or word of mouth, has not -proved unfruitful of good results. Sir William Muir gives a complete -synopsis of all Mohammedan attacks on the Christian faith and the -replies made in defence of Christianity; his criticisms of the books -in question are also of great interest.[155] Since that date there -have been new attacks and new apologies both from the Moslem side and -from that of the missionary. As a plough breaks up the soil before the -seed is sown so this kind of literature and argument will often break -up the fallow ground of Moslem hearts for the seed of God’s Word. Even -awakened fanaticism or active opposition is more hopeful than absolute -stagnation of thought and petrifaction of feeling. How to awaken the -Moslem conscience is the real problem. - -It is less important to consider the attitude of the Turkish rulers -toward Christians than the attitude of the Moslem mind toward -Christianity, as regards Arabia’s evangelization. The prevailing -attitude of the Moslem mind, in any particular part of Arabia, toward -Christianity practically decides the fate of a convert. Were Moslems -all strictly adherent to their traditions and the law regarding -renegades from Islam, every convert would be a martyr and every -inquirer would disappear. The Ottoman code of Moslem law gives specific -directions for the trial and execution of the renegade from the faith. -“He is to have three distinct offers of life if he will return to the -faith and time for reflection, after each offer, is to be given him. -If he remains obdurate he is to be executed by strangulation and then -his head is to be cut off and placed under his arm. His body is thus -to be exposed three days in the most public place.”[156] But, thank -God, Moslems do not strictly adhere to this law. In this, as in other -respects, many are better than their religion and superior to their -prophet. Converts in that part of Arabia which is under English rule or -protection are as safe as they are in India; which does not mean that -they are entirely free from persecution. In Turkish Arabia the law is -carried out by secret murder, or by banishment; yet not in every case, -for even there inquirers and converts, if not active or prominent, -have remained for a time unmolested. What the result would be in the -independent Moslem states of Arabia we do not know yet. - -The Berlin Treaty was intended to be the Magna Charta of Christian -liberty in the Turkish empire, but the Turk has not kept the compact. -Its provisions were too galling for Moslem pride and prestige; reforms -never got beyond the paper stage. The massacres of 1894 to 1896 proved -that the Sultan is still the Pope of a religious fraternity and king -of a political empire based on the forty-seventh chapter of the Koran: -“When ye encounter the unbelievers strike off their heads until you -have made a great slaughter of them.” And the inaction of all the -Christian powers at that time proved that it is vain to put confidence -in princes. But in spite of all possible government opposition or even -the martyrdom of every individual convert “so long as the door of -access to individual Mohammedans is open, so long it is the clear and -bounden duty of the church of Christ to make use of its opportunities -for delivering the gospel message to them.” - -The attitude of the Arab mind is not universally hostile to -Christianity. The vast majority are indifferent to religion in any -form. “What shall we eat and what shall we drink and wherewithal -shall we be clothed,”—is the sum of all their thoughts. The Arab -merchant serves Mammon with all his heart seven days a week. Religion -is an ornament and a conventionality; he wears it like his flowing -overgarment and it fits him just as loosely. He thinks it scarcely -worth while to discuss questions of belief. Every one has their own -religion, is a remark one often hears in Arabia. It is a faint echo -of the all-embracing tolerance of the days of ignorance when three -hundred and sixty idols, including an image of Christ and the virgin, -filled the Kaaba! - -Then there are some thoughtful men who know better,—seekers after -truth,—and who feel that there are strong points in Christianity and -weak points in Islam which have not been duly considered. One meets -examples of this class everywhere in all stations of life and in most -unexpected quarters. In the heart of Yemen I met a Mullah who had a -wonderful knowledge of the Arabic Bible; and the copy he showed me -was an imperfect translation by Richard Watson dated 1825! Another -prominent Mohammedan in Eastern Arabia recently expressed his opinion -that the Christ of the New Testament never intended to found a new -religion, but to introduce everywhere _spiritual_ worship of the God of -Abraham; he said that a long and independent study of the Bible had led -him to this opinion. - -The steady increase of the circulation of Scriptures in Arabia is -also an indication which way the current is drifting. Rev. George E. -Stone, a few weeks before his death, writing of the Bible circulation -at Muscat said, “I don’t know when the explosion is coming but we are -getting the dynamite under this rock of Islam and some day God will -touch it off.” The Bible in Arabia will indeed prove its power in -changing the entire attitude of the Moslem mind. “Is not my word like -as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in -pieces?——” - -Finally there is the problem of securing the right men for the work. -So hard is the field in many ways and so hard are Moslem hearts that -the description of Aaron Matthews’ ideal missionary for the Jews would -apply to the Arabs as well, (the last clause omitted). He wrote: -“A Jewish missionary requires Abraham’s faith, Job’s patience, the -meekness of Moses, the strength of Samson, the wisdom of Solomon, the -love of John, the zeal of Paul, the knowledge of the Scripture of -Timothy, and a little bit of Baron Rothschild’s pocket.” The financial -part of the equipment is not essential on the part of the missionary; -he should be content with food and raiment. The less display of Baron -Rothschild’s pocket the better, in a land where people go to bed hungry -and where all live in the greatest simplicity. - -The candidate for missionary work in Arabia should have a strong and -sound constitution. He should know how to “rough it” when necessary; -the more of the Bohemian there is in his nature the better. He should -have both ability and dogged determination enough to acquire the -Arabic language. Other scholarship is useful but not necessary. To -get along well with the Arabs he should have patience. And to avoid -wearing himself out, a good temper; a man with a very hot temper could -never stand three seasons in the Persian Gulf. Regarding spiritual -qualifications I cannot do better than quote the solemn words at -the close of General Haig’s paper on “Arabia as a mission-field.” I -believe they deserve to be repeated not only for the sake of those who -_send_ missionaries to Arabia, but for the sake of those who _are_ -missionaries to Arabia. It is a high ideal. - -“Given the right men, and Arabia may be won for Christ; start with the -wrong men, and little will be accomplished. But what qualifications are -needed! what enthusiasm, what fire of love, what dogged resolution, -what uttermost self-sacrificing zeal for the salvation of men and the -glory of Christ! But upon this point I prefer to quote here the words -of a man who is preëminently qualified to speak upon the subject. Three -years ago he wrote to me: - - “‘Unless you have missionaries so full of the spirit of Christ that - they count not their own lives dear to them, you will probably look - in vain for converts who will be prepared to lose their lives in the - Master’s service. In a relaxing tropical climate, like that of Aden, - circumstances are very unfavorable for the development of self-denying - character, or of energetic service. No small amount of grace would - be needed to sustain it; for we are compound beings, and there is a - wonderful reaction of the body upon the soul, as well as of the soul - upon the body. It is supremely important, then, in an enterprise - like yours, to have the _right stamp_ of men—men who have made some - sacrifices, and who do not count sacrifice to be sacrifice, but - privilege and honor—men who do not know what _discouragement_ means, - and men who expect great things from God. Such alone will prove really - successful workers in a field so replete with difficulty. Unless - Eternity bulks very largely in the estimation of a man, how can he - encourage a native convert to take a step that will at once destroy - all his hopes and prospects of an earthly character, and possibly - result in imprisonment, and torture, and death itself? and unless you - have men who are prepared, should God seem to call for it, to lead - their converts into circumstances of such danger and trial, it is not - very likely that they will find converts who will go very much in - advance of themselves. Men of this stamp are not to be _manufactured_; - they are God-made. They are not to be _found_; they must be God-sought - and God-given. But the Master who has need of them is able to provide - them. Nothing is too hard for the Lord.’” - -”_Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that He would thrust forth -laborers into His harvest._” - - - - - XXXVI - - OUTLOOK FOR MISSIONS TO MOSLEMS IN ARABIA - - “Take it at its very worst. They are dead lands and dead souls, blind - and cold and stiff in death as no heathen are; but we who love them - see the possibilities of sacrifice, of endurance of enthusiasm of - _life_, not yet effaced. Does not the Son of God who died for them - see these possibilities too? Do you think He says of the Mohammedan, - ‘There is no help for him in his God’? Has He not a challenge too - for your faith, the challenge that rolled away the stone from the - grave where Lazarus lay? ‘Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldst - believe thou shouldst see the glory of God? Then they took away the - stone from the place where the dead was laid.’”—_I. Lilias Trotter_, - (missionary to Algiers). - - -Two views are widely prevalent regarding the hopelessness of -missionary work among Moslems generally, and although these views are -diametrically opposite they are agreed that it is waste of time and -effort to go to Mohammedan lands, that it is a forlorn hope at best. -The first view is that of those who are themselves outside of the -kingdom, and who shut its doors against the Moslem, saying: Experience -has proved it to be not only useless but dangerous to meddle with the -Moslem and his religion. Their faith is good enough for them; it is -suited to their ways. They do not worship idols and have a code of -morality suitable to the Orient. Mohammed was a prophet of God and -did all that could be done for these kind of people. Every attempt to -convert them ends in failure. Let them alone. Islam will work out its -own reformation. Some, like Canon Taylor and Doctor Blyden, who profess -to be Christians, even consider Islam the handmaid of Christianity and -specially fitted for the whole Negro race.[157] - -The opposite view is that Mohammedanism is not too hopeful to be -meddled with but too hopeless! They who hold it profess to believe in -the Holy Ghost as the Lord and Life-Giver for the _heathen_ world, but -hesitate when it comes to Islam. The Moslem is, they say, wrapped up in -self-righteousness and conceit; even those whose fanaticism is overcome -dare not accept Christ. It is better to go to the heathen who will -hear. Missions to the Moslem world are hopeless, fruitless, useless. -It is impossible to Christianize them and there have been few, if any, -converts. - -That both of these views cannot be correct is evident, since they are -contradictory. That the first is false the whole history of Islam -demonstrates. “By their fruits ye shall know them.” But what of the -other view, held by so many, that we need not expect large results -where there is so little promise? - -Professor J. G. Lansing, one of the founders of the Arabian mission, -wrote in 1890: “If the smallness of the number of converts from -Islam to Christianity be pointed out, this argues not so much the -unapproachability of Moslems as the indifference and inactivity of -Christians. The doctrine of fatalism commonly accredited to Islam, is -not one-half so fatalistic in its spirit and operation as that which -for thirteen centuries has been practically held by the Christian -Church as to the hope of bringing the hosts of Islam into the following -of Jesus Christ.” Is it possible that the lack of results complained -of has been really a _lack of faith_? Hudson Taylor remarked a few -years ago, “I expect to see some of the most marvellous results within -a few years in the missions to Islam, because of this work especially -the enemy has said: It is without result. God is not mocked.” Has the -apostle to China read the signs of the times aright? - -Neither God’s Providence nor His Word are silent in answer to that -question. First we have the exceeding hopefulness of results of recent -missionary work in many Moslem lands; then the sure promises of God -to give His Church the victory over Islam; and lastly the many -exceeding great and precious promises for Arabia the cradle of Islam in -particular. - -1. It is not true that there have been no conversions among Moslems. -In India alone there are hundreds who have publicly abjured Islam -and been received into the Christian Church. The very first native -clergyman of the Northwest Provinces was a converted Mohammedan. -Sayad Wilayat Ali of Agra suffered martyrdom at Delhi for Christ. -Mirza Ghulam Masih of the royal house of Delhi became a Christian and -Abdullah Athim, the valiant-hearted of Amballa embraced the faith. At -the Chicago Parliament of Religions Dr. Imad-ud-Din, himself a convert -from Islam and a voluminous controversial writer, read a paper on -Christian efforts among Indian Mohammedans; this paper gives the names -of one hundred and seventeen prominent converts from Islam, mostly from -the Punjab. Beside these, the author says, “there are all sorts and -conditions of men, rich and poor, high and low men and women, children, -learned and unlearned, tradesmen, servants, all kinds and classes of -Mohammedans whom the Lord our God hath called into His Church.” It is -officially stated that quite one-half of the converts from among the -higher classes in the Punjab are from amongst Moslems. - -In Persia there have been martyrs for the faith in recent years and -several have been baptized. In the Turkish empire there have been -scores of converts who have been obliged to flee for their lives -or remain believers in secret. At Constantinople a congregation of -converted Moslems was gathered by Dr. Koelle, but man after man -disappeared—no doubt murdered for his faith. In Egypt there have been -scores of baptisms and among others a student of Al Azhar University -and a Bey’s son confessed Christ. One has only to turn over the leaves -of the Church Missionary Society annual reports to read of Mohammedans -being baptized in Kerachi, and Bombay, Peshawar, Delhi, Agra, and on -the borders of Afghanistan. In North Africa where the work is very -recent there have been conversions and in one locality a remarkable -spiritual movement is in progress among the Moslems. - -In Java and Sumatra the Dutch and Rhenish missionary societies have -labored with remarkable success among the Mohammedan population. At -four stations of the Rhenish Mission is Sumatra where the work is -practically altogether among Moslems, (namely, Sipirok-Simangumban, -Bungabonder, Sipiongot, and Simanasor) the total number of church -members according to the _Bombay Guardian_, is three thousand five -hundred and ten. The total number of baptisms from Islam in these -stations was during 1897 sixty-nine, and during the first half of 1898 -already ninety-seven baptisms were reported. In some of the villages -where formerly Islam was predominant it has been expelled altogether. -The total number of Battak Christians amount to thirty-one thousand, -the largest part of whom were formerly Moslems.[158] In some parts of -Java still larger results are claimed. - -In most Moslem fields it is absolutely impossible to obtain accurate -statistics of the number of conversions for obvious reasons. The -threatened death-penalty demands great caution in exposing a convert -by freely publishing the fact of his conversion. Everywhere there are -multitudes of secret believers whose names are sometimes not known even -to the missionaries. Any one who has read the lives of Moslem converts -such as that of Kamil or Imad-ud-Din or who knows from books like -“Sweet First Fruits” what it means for a Moslem to forsake the faith -of his fathers, knows that work in Moslem lands must not be judged by -baptismal statistics. - -There are other indications of spiritual life entering the Moslem -world. There are thousands of Mohammedan youth receiving instruction -in Christian mission schools; in Egypt, one mission has twenty-four -hundred and sixty-four Moslem pupils enrolled. The permeating power -of spiritual Christianity is again at work in the Levant as when Paul -and Silas made their missionary journeys. The old churches of the -East by their unfaithfulness were the occasion of the great apostasy -of Islam; _their revival is the pledge of its downfall_. There is now -an Evangelical Church in Persia, Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Asia -Minor. Bodies of living Christians in the midst of Islam; no wonder -that their power is beginning to be felt. The devil takes no antiseptic -precautions against a non-contagious Christianity. But Evangelical -Christianity is contagious, and the whole lurid horizon proclaims in -persecutions and massacres and raging oppositions everywhere that Islam -feels the power of Christian missions, even although they have only -begun to attack in a miserly and puny way this stronghold of Satan. - -Regarding the character of Moslem converts Bishop Thoburn says: “I -believe that when truly converted the Mohammedan makes not only a -devoted Christian but in some respects will make a superior leader. -Leadership is a great want in every mission-field and the Mohammedans -of India have the material, if it can only be won for Christ and -sanctified to His service, out of which splendid workers can be made -in the Master’s vineyard.” Doctor Jessup voices the same opinion, “It -is not easy for a Mohammedan to embrace Christianity but history shows -that when he is converted the Moslem becomes a strong and vigorous -Christian.” - -2. In the work of missions among Mohammedans as well as in that among -the heathen we have the assurance of final victory in the abundant -testimony of God’s Word. God’s promises never fail of fulfillment; -and those world-wide promises never are put in such a form as to -exclude the Mohammedans. The Bible tells us that many false prophets -shall arise and deceive many; but it does not for a moment allow that -the empire of Christ shall divide rule with any of them. “It pleased -the Father that in Him [Jesus not Mohammed] should all fullness -dwell.” “The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His -hands”—not into the hands of Mohammed. “God hath exalted Him and given -Him a name which is above every name ... far above all principality -and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not -only in this world but also in that which is to come.” “That at the -name of Jesus every” Mohammedan “knee should bow and every” Moslem -“tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the -Father.” The present may see Islam triumphant, but the future belongs -to Christ. Over against the lying truth “there is no God but God and -Mohammed is His prophet,” Christianity lifts the standard, “Who is he -that overcometh the world but he that believeth that Jesus Christ is -the Son of God?” The Divinity of Christ, which Moslems deny, decides -the destiny of all world-kingdoms. Witness the present governments of -the Moslem world. “Be wise now therefore O ye kings, be instructed ye -judges of the earth ... kiss the Son lest He be angry and ye perish -from the way when His wrath is kindled but a little.” - -There is a failure among Christians to realize the number and -importance of the missionary promises in the Old Testament.[159] The -Great Commission was based on these exceeding great promises. The -nations were in God’s plan before they were on Christ’s program. And -is it not remarkable that nearly all of these Old Testament promises -are grouped around the names of countries which now are the centre -and strength of the Moslem world? “Known unto God are all His works -from the beginning of the world.” Or will these promises of world-wide -import only stretch beyond Egypt, Mesopotamia, Syria and Arabia, -not including those lands in God’s plan of redemption and dominion? -Is there not a special blessing in store for the lands that border -Palestine, when the Lord shall comfort Zion and restore all her waste -places? “In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with -Assyria even a blessing in the midst of the earth. Whom the Lord of -hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people and Assyria the -work of My hands and Israel My inheritance.” - -The Moslem world is in no _better_ condition and in no _worse_ -condition than the heathen world as portrayed in the New Testament. The -need of both is the same; and the same duty to evangelize them; and the -same promise of God’s blessing on our work of witness. The Mohammedan -world is also without excuse (Rom. i. 20, 32), without hope (John iii. -36; Eph. ii. 12), without peace (Isaiah xlviii. 22), without feeling -(Eph. iv. 19), without Christ (Rom. xiii. 13, 14) as is the heathen -world. But no less is our responsibility toward them nor the power of -God’s love to win them. - -It is the rock of Christ’s _Sonship_ which is the stone of stumbling -and the rock of offence to the Moslem mind. But it is this very rock -on which Christ builds His church; and the foundation of God standeth -sure. Writing on this subject Mr. Edward Glenny, the Secretary of the -North Africa Mission, well says: - -“Blessed be God, we are not left to carry on this warfare at our own -charges! ‘He that sent Me is with Me,’ said the Master; and He who -sends His servants now is surely with them also, for the promise -stands, ‘Lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age.’ In all -our efforts for the salvation of men, we are dependent upon the power -of the Spirit of God; for no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but -by the Holy Ghost. But if those of us who work at home are conscious -of this, those who labor in Mohammedan countries realize it most -intensely. Amongst the masses at home, what we have to contend against -mostly is indifference; but there it is deeply-rooted prejudice, aye, -even in many cases, hatred to Jesus as the Son of God. But the battle -is the Lord’s, not ours; we are but instruments to carry out His -purposes. The Spirit has been sent forth from the Father to ‘convict -THE WORLD of sin,’ and we are not justified in making any reservation -in the case of Mohammedans—yea, may we not expect that if there be a -nation or race on the earth more inaccessible than another, more averse -to the gospel, more hardened against its teachings, that there the Lord -will show ‘the exceeding greatness of His power’ by calling out some -from their midst whom He may make ‘chosen vessels’ to bear His name to -others? Has not that been His mode of working in time past?” - -3. There is no land in the world and no people (with the exception -of Palestine and the Jews) which bear such close relation to the -Theocratic covenants and Old Testament promises as Arabia and the -Arabs. The promises for the final victory of the Kingdom of God in -Arabia are many, definite and glorious. These promises group themselves -around seven names which have from time immemorial been identified -with the peninsula of Arabia: _Ishmael_, _Kedar_, _Nebaioth_, _Sheba_, -_Seba_, _Midian_ and _Ephah_. We select these names only, omitting -others which have an indirect reference to Arabia or the Arabs, as well -as those promises, so numerous and glorious, concerning the wilderness -and desert-lands. The latter would surely, for the dwellers of -Palestine, have primary reference to Northern Arabia; but our argument -is strong enough without these general promises.[160] - -In order to understand the promises given to the sons of Ishmael, Kedar -and Nebaioth, we need first to know the relation which Ishmael bears to -the Abrahamic covenant and the place he occupies in God’s plan for the -nations as outlined in the book of Genesis. - -Hagar, the mother of the Arabian patriarch, seems to have occupied a -prominent place in Abraham’s household and appears to have brought to -that position not only mental gifts but also an inward participation -in the faith of the God of Abraham. She was probably added to the -family of faith during Abraham’s sojourn in Egypt and occupied the same -position toward the female servants that Eliezer of Damascus did to the -male servants. It is when she was driven forth into the wilderness by -the jealous harshness of Sarah that we have the first revelation of God -regarding her seed. “The angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of -water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.”[161] And -He said, Whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I -flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. And the angel of the Lord said -unto her, Return to thy mistress and submit thyself under her hands. -And the angel of the Lord said unto her, ... “I will multiply thy seed -exceedingly that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel -of the Lord said unto her, Behold thou art with child, and shall bear a -son and shalt call his name Ishmael [God will hear]; because the Lord -hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man, his hand will be -against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell -in the presence of all his brethren. And she called the name of the -Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also -here looked after Him that seeth me.” - -It is plain from the context that the angel of the Lord and the Lord -Himself are here identified; it was the angel of Jehovah, the angel -of the covenant or the Christ of the Old Testament. Why should this -“angel” first appear to the Egyptian bondwoman? Is it according to -the law that the Lord always reveals Himself first to the poorest, -most distressed and receptive hearts or was it the special office of -the covenant angel to seek “that which was lost” from the patriarchal -church at its very beginning? Lange suggests in his commentary that -the “Angel of Jehovah, as the Christ who was to come through Isaac -had a peculiar reason for assisting Hagar, since she for the sake of -the future Christ is involved in this sorrow.” In any case the special -revelation and the special promise was given to Hagar not only but -to her seed. Christ, if we may so express it, outlines the future -history and character of the Ishmaelites as well as their strength and -glory; but He also gives them a spiritual promise in the God-given -name, _Ishmael_, Elohim will hear. Without this the theophany loses -it true character. Ishmael as the child of Abraham could not be left -undistinguishable among the heathen. It was for Abraham’s sake that the -revelation included the unborn child in its promises. - -The fulfillment of the promise that Ishmael’s seed should multiply -exceedingly has never been more clearly stated than by the geographer -Ritter: “Arabia, whose population consists to a large extent of -Ishmaelites, is a living fountain of men whose streams for thousands -of years have poured themselves far and wide to the east and west. -Before Mohammed its tribes were found in all border-Asia, in the East -Indies as early as the middle ages; and in all North Africa it is the -cradle of all the wandering hordes. Along the whole Indian ocean down -to Molucca they had their settlements in the middle ages; they spread -along the coast to Mozambique; their caravans crossed India to China, -and in Europe they peopled Southern Spain and ruled it for seven -hundred years.” Where there has been such clear fulfillment of the -promise of natural increase, is there no ground that _God will hear_ -and give spiritual blessing also and that Ishmael “shall dwell in the -presence of all his brethren” in the new covenant of grace? - -[Illustration: THE RESCUED SLAVE BOYS AT MUSCAT.] - -Thirteen years after the first promise to Ishmael we hear the promise -renewed just after the institution of circumcision, the sign of the -covenant of faith. “And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might -[even yet] live before Thee. And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear -thee a son indeed; and thou shall call his name Isaac: and I will -establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with -his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee....” What -is the significance of Abraham’s prayer for Ishmael? Is it probable -that he merely asks for temporal prosperity and for length of life? -This is the idea of some commentators but none of them explain why the -prayer asks that Ishmael may live “_before God_.” Keil and others, more -correctly we think, regard the prayer of Abraham as arising out of his -anxiety lest Ishmael should not have _any_ part in the blessings of the -covenant. The fact that the answer of God contains no denial of the -prayer of Abraham is in favor of this interpretation. - -[Illustration: THE ARABIAN MISSION HOUSE AT MUSCAT.] - -In the prayer Abraham expresses his anticipation of an indefinite -neglect of Ishmael which was painful to his parental heart. He asks -for him, therefore, a life from God in the highest sense. Else what -does the circumcision of Ishmael mean? The sealing or ratifying of -the covenant of God with Abraham _through Isaac’s seed_, embraces not -only the seed of Isaac, but all those who in a wider sense are sharers -of the covenant, Ishmael and his descendants. And however much the -Arabs may have departed from the _faith_ of Abraham they have for all -these centuries remained faithful to the _sign_ of the old covenant -by the rite of circumcision. This is one of the most remarkable facts -of history. _Circumcision is not once alluded to in the Koran_, and -Moslem writers offer no explanation for the omission. Yet the custom is -universal in Arabia, and from them it passed over with other traditions -to all the Moslem world. The Moslems date circumcision from Abraham and -circumcise at a late period. The Arabs in “the time of ignorance” also -practiced the rite; an uncircumcised person is unknown even among those -Bedouins who know nothing of Islam save the name of the prophet.[162] - -“As for Ishmael I have heard thee.” For the third time we read of a -special revelation to prove God’s love for the son of the bondmaid. -In the pathetic story of Hagar’s expulsion, Ishmael is the centre -figure.[163] His mocking was its cause; for _his_ sake it was grievous -in Abraham’s sight to expel them. To Ishmael again is there a special -promise, “because he is thy seed.” When the water is spent in the -bottle and Hagar turns away from seeing the death of the child, it was -not her weeping but the lad’s prayer that brought deliverance from -heaven. “And the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said -unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the -voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad and hold him by -thine hand; for I will make of him a great nation. And God opened her -eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the bottle -with water and gave the lad drink. And God was with the lad.” - -No less does this history show the moral beauty of Hagar’s character, -her tender mother love and all the beautiful traits of a maternal -solicitude than the repentance of Ishmael. God heard his voice; God -forgave his sinful mocking; God confirmed his promise; God saved his -life; God was with the lad. The Providence of God watched over Ishmael. -Long years after he seems to have visited his father Abraham, for we -read that when the patriarch died in a good old age “his sons Isaac -and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah.” No mention is made -here of the sons of Keturah. And twice in the Bible the generations -of Ishmael are recorded in full[164] in order to bind together the -prophecies of Genesis with the Messianic promises of Isaiah for the -seed of Ishmael. - -The twelve princes, sons of Ishmael, whose names are recorded “by their -towns and their castles” were undoubtedly the patriarchs of so many -Arab tribes. Some of the names can be distinctly traced through history -and others are easily identified with modern clans in Arabia. Mibsam, -_e. g._, seems to correspond with the Nejd clan of _Bessam_ some of -whom are merchants at Busrah; Mishma is surely the same as the Arabic -_Bni Misma_; while nearly all commentators agree that Duma is _Dumat -el Jendal_ in North Arabia, one of the oldest Arabic settlements. -Aside from conjecture two names stand prominent and well-known in -profane history; _Nebajoth_ and _Kedar_. Pliny in his natural history -mentions them together as the Nabatœi et Cedrei and the Arab historians -are familiar with the names. Undoubtedly the Nabatans are related to -Nebajoth; although this is denied by Quartremere it is affirmed by M. -Chwolson and is the universal opinion of the Arabs themselves. - -Now it is these very two names, whose identity no one questions, that -are the centre of glorious promises. It is generally known that the -sixtieth chapter of Isaiah is the gem of missionary prophecy in the -Old Testament; but it does not occur to every one that a large portion -of it consists of special promises for Arabia. “The multitude of -camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah, (Sons -of Keturah, Gen. xxv. 1-5); all they from Sheba (South Arabia or -Yemen) shall come; they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall -show forth the praises of the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar shall be -gathered together unto thee; the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto -thee: they shall come up with acceptance upon mine altar and I will -glorify the house of my glory. Who are these that fly as a cloud and as -doves to their windows?” - -These verses read in connection with the grand array of promises that -precede them leave no room for doubt that the sons of Ishmael have a -large place in this coming glory of the Lord and the brightness of His -rising. It has only been delayed by our neglect to evangelize Northern -Arabia but God will keep His promise yet and Christ shall see of the -travail of His soul, among the camel-drivers and shepherds of Arabia. -And then shall be fulfilled that other promise significantly put in -Isaiah xlii. for this part of the peninsula: “Sing unto the Lord a new -song and His praise from the end of the earth ... let the wilderness -and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar -doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from -the top of the mountains.” It is all there, with geographical accuracy -and up-to-date; “_cities in the wilderness_” that is Nejd under its -present government; Kedar forsaking the nomad tent and becoming -villagers; and the rock-dwellers of Medain Salih! “And I will bring the -blind by a way they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have -not known: I will make darkness light before them and crooked things -straight.” The only proper name, the only geographical centre of the -entire chapter is _Kedar_. In two other prophecies,[165] which have no -Messianic character, Kedar is referred to _as synonymous with Arabia_. - -Another group of missionary promises for Arabia cluster round the names -_Seba_ and _Sheba_. “All they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring -gold and incense and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord.” -(Is. lx. 6.) “The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea all -kings shall fall down before Him, all nations shall serve Him.... He -shall live and to Him shall be given of the gold of Sheba; prayer also -shall be made for Him continually and daily shall He be praised.” The -Messianic character of this psalm is generally acknowledged. - -Where are Seba and Sheba? Who are they? Three Shebas are referred to in -genealogy and prophecy. 1. A son of Raamah, son of Cush; 2. A son of -Joktan; 3. A son of Jokshan son of Keturah. But all of these find their -dwelling-place in what is now Southern Arabia. The Joktanite Sheba -is the kingdom of the Himyarites in Yemen.[166] The kingdom of Sheba -embraced the greater part of Yemen; its chief cities and probably its -successive capitals were Seba, Sana (Uzal), and Zaphar (Sephar). Seba, -the oldest capital, is identical with the present _Marib_, northeast -of Sana; for EzZejjaj in the Taj El Aroos dictionary says, “Seba was -the city of Marib or the country in the Yemen of which the city was -Marib.” Ptolemy’s map makes plain what the Romans and Greeks understood -by Seba and Sheba. The Cushite Sheba settled somewhere on the shores -of the Persian Gulf. In the _Marasid_ Stanley-Poole says he found “an -identification which appears to be satisfactory—that on the island -of Awāl, one of the Bahrein islands are the ruins of an ancient city -called Seba.” - -The same authority holds that the Keturahite Sheba formed one tribe -with the Cushite Sheba and also dwelt in Eastern Arabia. Sheba has -always been a land of gold and incense and we are only beginning to -know a little of the opulence and glory of the ancient Himyarite -kingdom in Yemen from the lately discovered inscriptions and ruins. - -In the same psalm that gives these promises to Southern and Eastern -Arabia we have this remarkable verse: “He shall have dominion also from -sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that -dwell in the wilderness shall bow before Him and His enemies shall lick -the dust.” _The_ river referred to is undoubtedly the Euphrates[167] -and the boundaries given are intended to include the ideal extent -of the promised land. Now it is, to say the least, remarkable that -modern Jewish commentators interpret this passage together with the -forty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel so as to include _the whole peninsula -of Arabia_ in the land of promise. I have seen a curious map, printed -by Jews in London, on which the twelve restored tribes had each their -strip of territory right across Arabia from the Red Sea to the Gulf and -including Palestine and Syria. - -Isaac Da Costa, the great Dutch poet, who was of Jewish descent gathers -together in his epic, “Hagar,” some of these Bible promises for the -sons of Ishmael.[168] - - “Mother of Ishmael! The word that God hath spoken - Never hath failed the least, nor was His promise broken. - Whether in judgment threatened or as blessing given; - Whether for time and earth or for eternal heaven, - To Esau or to Jacob.... - The patriarch prayed to God, while bowing in the dust: - ’Oh that before thee Ishmael might live!’—His prayer, his trust. - Nor was that prayer despised, _that_ promise left alone - Without fulfillment. For the days shall come - When Ishmael shall bow his haughty chieftain head - Before that Greatest Chief of Isaac’s royal seed. - Thou, favored Solomon, hast first fulfillment seen - Of Hagar’s promise, when came suppliant Sheba’s queen. - Next Araby the blest brought Bethlehem’s newborn King, - Her myrrh and spices, gold and offering. - Again at Pentecost they came, first-fruits of harvest vast; - When, to adore the name of Jesus, at the last - To Zion’s glorious hill the nation’s joy to share - The scattered flocks of Kedar all are gathered there, - Nebajoth, Hefa, Midian.... - Then Israel shall know Whose heart their hardness broke, - Whose side they pierced, Whose curse they dared invoke. - And then, while at His feet they mourn His bitter death, - Receive His pardon.... - Before Whose same white throne Gentile and Jew shall meet - With Parthian, Roman, Greek, the far North and the South, - From Mississippi’s source to Ganges’ giant mouth, - And every tongue and tribe shall join in one new song, - Redemption! Peace on earth and good-will unto men; - The purpose of all ages unto all ages sure. Amen. - Glory unto the Father! Glory the Lamb, once slain, - Spotless for human guilt, exalted now to reign! - And to the Holy Ghost, life-giver, whose refreshing - Makes all earth’s deserts bloom with living showers of blessing!” - - * * * * * - - “Mother of Ishmael! I see thee yet once more, Thee, under burning -skies and on a waveless shore! Thou comfortless, soul storm tossed, -tempest shaken, Heart full of anguish and of hope forsaken, Thou, too, -didst find at last God’s glory all thy stay! He came. He spake to thee. -He made thy night His day. As then, so now. Return to Sarah’s tent And -Abraham’s God, and better covenant, And sing with Mary, through her -Saviour free, ‘God of my life, Thou hast looked down on me.’” - -But Arabia, although it has all this wealth of promise, is not a -field for _feeble_ faith. Yet we can learn to look at this barren -land because of these promises with the same reckless, uncalculating, -_defiant_ confidence in which Abraham “without being weakened in faith, -considered his own body now as good as dead” (R. V.) “but waxed strong -through faith giving glory to God.” The promises are great because the -obstacles are great; that the glory of the plan as well as the glory -of the work may be to God alone. Arabia needs men who will believe as -seeing the Invisible. Six hundred years ago Raymond Lull wrote: “It -seems to me that the Holy Land cannot be won in any other way than that -whereby Thou, O Lord Jesus Christ, and Thy Holy Apostles won it, by -love and prayer, and the shedding of tears and blood.” - -A lonely worker among Moslems in North Africa recently wrote: “Yes -it is lives poured out that these people need—a sowing in tears—in a -measure that perhaps no heathen land requires; they need a Calvary -before they get their Pentecost. Thanks be unto God for a field like -this: in the light of eternity we could ask no higher blessedness than -the chance it gives of fellowship with His Son.” - -The dumb spirit of Islam has possessed Arabia from its childhood for -thirteen hundred years; “he teareth and he foameth and gnasheth with -his teeth and pineth away.” “And He said unto them this kind can come -forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting.” “_If thou canst believe, -all things are possible to him that believeth._” (Mark ix. 14-29.) - -Life for Arabia must come from the Life-Giver. “I believe in the Holy -Ghost,” therefore mission-work in Arabia will prove the promise of God -true in every particular and to its fullest extent. “O that Ishmael -might live ... as for Ishmael I have heard thee.” - - “Speed on, ye heralds, bringing - Life to the desert slain; - Till in its mighty winging, - God’s spirit comes to reign - From death to new-begetting, - God shall the power give, - Shall choose them for crown-setting - And Ishmael shall live. - - “So speaks the promise, bringing - The age of Jubilee - To every home and tenting, - From Tadmor to the sea. - The dead to life are risen, - The glory spreads abroad, - The desert answers heaven, - Hosannas to the Lord!” - - - - - Appendix I - - A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE - - - Circa 1892 B. C.—Birth of Ishmael. - ” 1773 ” —Death of Ishmael. - ” 992 ” —Bilkis, queen of Yemen (Sheba) visits Solomon. - ” 700 ” —Amalgamation of Cushite and Sabean clans in Yemen. - ” 754 ” —All Yemen and Oman under rule of Yaarŭb. - ” 588 ” —First Jewish settlements in Arabia. - A. D. 33—Arabians present at Pentecost. - ” 37—The Apostle Paul goes to Arabia. - ” 60—Second Jewish immigration into Arabia. - ” 105—Roman Emperor Trajan under his general Palma subdues - Northwestern Arabia. - ” 120—Destruction of great dam at Marib and the beginning of Arab - migrations northward. - ” 297—Famine in Western Arabia. Migrations eastward. - ” 326—Nearchus, admiral of Alexander, surveys the Persian Gulf. - ” 325—Nicene Council—Arabians present. - ” 342—Christianity already extending in Northern Arabia. Churches - built in Yemen. - ” 372—Mavia, queen of North Arabia, converted to Christianity. - ” 525—Abyssinian invasion of Yemen. - ” 561—Mohammed born at Mecca. - ” 575—Persians under Anosharwan expel the Abyssinians from Yemen. - ” 595—Mohammed marries Khadijah. - ” 595—Yemen passes under Persian Rule. - ” 610—Mohammed begins his prophetic career. - ” 622—(A.H. 1)—Mohammed flees from Mecca to Medina. The era of - the _Hegira_. (See end of Table.) - ” 623—Battle of Bedr. - ” 624—Battle of Ohod. - ” 630—Mecca overcome. Embassy to Oman, etc. - ” 632—Death of Mohammed. Abubekr caliph. All Arabia subjugated by - force of arms. - ” 634—Omar caliph. Expulsion of Jews and Christians from Arabia. - ” 638—Kufa and Busrah founded. - ” 644—Othman caliph. - ” 655—Dissensions regarding caliphate. Medina attacked. Ali - chosen caliph. - ” 656—Battle of the Camel. Capital transferred to Kufa. - ” 661—Ali assassinated. Hassan becomes caliph. - ” 750—Beginning of Abbaside Caliphate (Bagdad). - ” 754—Mansur. - ” 786—Haroun el Rashid. - ” 809—Amin. - ” 813—Mamun. - ” 833—Motasim. - ” 847—Motawakkel. - ” 889—Arise of Carmathian sect. - ” 905—Yemen comes under Karamite caliphs. - ” 932—Rebellion in Yemen. It becomes independent under _Imams_ of - Sana as rulers. - ” 930—Carmathians take Mecca and carry away the black-stone to - Katif. - ” 1055—Togrul Beg at Bagdad. - ” 1096-1272—The Crusades. Arabia in touch with European - civilization through its bands of warriors. - ” 1173—Yemen subdued by sultans of Egypt. - ” 1240—Rise of Ottoman Turks. - ” 1258—Fall of Bagdad. - ” 1325—Yemen again independent. - ” 1454—Imams of Yemen take Aden and fortify it. - ” 1503—Portuguese under Ludovico Barthema, make voyages on Arabian - coast and visit Aden and Muscat. - ” 1507—Portuguese take Muscat. - ” 1513—Portuguese under Abulquerque are repulsed at Aden. Visit - Mokha and the Persian Gulf. - ” 1516—Suleiman by order of Mameluke Sultan attacks Aden and is - repulsed. - ” 1538—Suleiman the Magnificent sends a fleet and takes Aden by - treachery. Arab garrison butchered. - ” 1540—Beginning of Turkish rule in Yemen. - ” 1550—Arabs hand over Aden to the Portuguese. - ” 1551—Aden recaptured by Peri Pasha. - ” 1624-1741—Imams established rule over all Oman with capital at - Rastak; then at Muscat. - ” 1609—First visit to Aden by English captains. - ” 1618—English establish factories at Mokha. - ” 1622—Portuguese expelled from Bahrein and Arab coast by the - Persians. - ” 1630—Arabs drive out Turks from Yemen and _Imams_ take the - throne at Sana. - ” 1740-65—Dutch East India Company in Persian Gulf and Red Sea - ports. - ” 1765—English East India Company in Persian Gulf and Red Sea - ports. - ” 1735—Abdali Sultan of Lahaj takes Aden. - ” 1741—Ahmed bin Said drives out Portuguese from Muscat and founds - Dynasty of Imams, anew. - ” 1765—Mohammed bin Abdul Wahab dies and his political associate - Mohammed bin Saud propagates Wahabiism in Arabia. - ” 1780—Spread of Wahabi doctrine over all of Central Arabia. - ” 1801—Wahabis conquer Bahrein and hold it for nine years. - ” 1803—Abd-ul-Aziz the Wahabi chief assassinated by a Persian - fanatic. - ” 1803—Wahabis take Mecca and lay seige to Jiddah. - ” 1804—Wahabis take Medina. - ” 1804—Said bin Sultan ruler of Oman and Zanzibar. - ” 1809—Aden visited by Captain Haines of British Navy. - ” 1818—Ibrahim Pasha captures Wahabi capital and sends Amir in - chains to Constantinople where he is beheaded. - ” 1805-1820—British suppress piracy in Persian Gulf. - ” 1820—Son of Amir, Turki, proclaimed Sultan of Nejd and Oman - coast. - ” 1821—British make treaty with tribes on Oman coast called the - “Trucial League.” - ” 1820-1847—British treaties with Bahrein chiefs to suppress - slave-trade and piracy. - ” 1831—Turki, ruler of Nejd, murdered. - ” 1832—Feysul bin Turki, succeeds him. - ” l835—Abdullah bin Rashid becomes a powerful chief in Jebel - Shammar. - ” 1835—Aden again visited by British to avenge cruelty to sailors - shipwrecked off its coast. - ” 1839—Aden bombarded by British fleet and taken. Treaties made - with surrounding tribes. - ” 1840-1847—Aden attacked by Arabs. - ” 1846—Tilal bin Abdullah bin Rashid succeeds to rulership of - Jebel Shammar and becomes independent of Wahabi power. - ” 1851-1856—Abdullah bin Mutalib Sherif of Mecca. - ” 1854—Sultan of Oman makes treaty with England and cedes Kuria - Muria Islands. - ” 1856—Thuwani bin Said ruler of Oman. - ” 1857—Perim occupied by British. - ” 1858-1877—Abdullah bin Mohammed Sherif of Mecca. - ” 1858—Cable laid in Red Sea from Suez to Aden, but proved - defective (cost £800,000). - ” 1858—Bombardment of Jiddah by British. - ” 1865-1886—Abdullah bin Feysul ruler of Nejd with capital at Riad. - ” 1867—Mitaab bin Abdullah succeeds Tilal. - ” 1867—Menamah (Bahrein) bombarded by British because of broken - treaty. Isa bin Ali made ruler. - ” 1866—Sultan bin Thuwani ruler of Oman. - ” 1868—Mohammed bin Rashid assumes power and rule at Hail as Amir - of Nejd. - ” 1869—Cable laid from Bombay to Aden and Suez. - ” 1870—Turkish invasion of Yemen. - ” 1871—Turkish invasion of Hassa and occupation of Katif. - ” 1871—Seyyid Turki ruler of Oman (Muscat). - ” 1875—Busrah made a separate vilayet. - ” 1877—Beginning of Turkish bureaucracy at Mecca. - ” 1878—Treaty of Berlin. Reforms promised in Turkish Provinces. - ” 1880—Hasein, Sherif of Mecca, is murdered. - ” 1881-82—Abd el Mutalib again Sherif of Mecca. - ” 1882—Aun er Rafik made Sherif of Mecca. - ” 1886—Mohammed Ibn Rashid takes Riad overturning Saud government - and becomes ruler of all Central Arabia. - -[NOTE.—To find the equivalent date A. H. of any year A. D.:—From the -year A. D. deduct 621.54 and to the remainder add 3 per cent. A. H. -1 = July 16th, 622 A. D., and the Moslem year consists of 12 lunar -months. To find the equivalent date A. D. of a year A. H. multiply it -by .970225 and to the remainder add 621.54. The sum gives the date A. -D. of the _end_ of the year A. H.] - - - - - Appendix II - - TABLE OF THE ARAB TRIBES OF NORTHERN ARABIA - - - {El Meshadaka. - {El Meshatta. - {_Walid Ali_ {El Hammamede. - { {El Jedaleme. - { {El Toluh. - { - {_El-Hessene_ {El Hessene (proper). - { {Messalih. - { - I. The Anaeze: {_Er-Ruwalla_ {El Ruwalla (proper). - { (or Jilas) {Um Halif. - { - { {Fedan. - { {Tana Majid {Sebaa. - { { - {_El-Beshr_ { {Medeyan. - { {Selga {Metarafe. - { { {Aulad Sulei - - {El Mowaly. - {El Howeytat. - II. AHL ES-SHEMMAL: {El Hadedin. - (Northern tribes) {Es-Soleyb. - { (also) {El Feheily. - {Arabs of the Hauran {Es-Serdye. - {Bni Sokhr. - {Bni Heteym. - - - {Arabs of Kerak. - {Esh-Sherarat. - { {El Temeyat. - { {El Menjat. - {Bni-Shammar {Ibn Ghazy. - III. AHL EL-KIBLY: { {Bayr. - (Southernly { {El-Fesyani. - tribes) {El-Jerba. - {El Jofeir. - {El Akeydat - {Bni Sayd. - {El-Wouled. - {El-Bakara. - - - I. THE ANAEZE: - _Walid Ali_ - El Meshadaka. - El Meshatta. - El Hammamede. - El Jedaleme. - El Toluh. - _El-Hessene_ - El Hessene (proper). - Messalih. - _Er-Ruwalla_ (or Jilas) - El Ruwalla (proper). - Um Halif. - _El-Beshr_ - Tana Majid - Fedan. - Sebaa. - Selga - Medeyan. - Metarafe. - Aulad Suleiman. - - II. AHL ES-SHEMMAL: (Northern tribes) - El Mowaly. - El Howeytat. - El Hadedin. - Es-Soleyb. - (also) - Arabs of the Hauran - El Feheily. - Es-Serdye. - Bni Sokhr. - Bni Heteym. - - III. AHL EL-KIBLY: (Southernly tribes) - Arabs of Kerak. - Esh-Sherarat. - Bni-Shammar - El Temeyat. - El Menjat. - Ibn Ghazy. - Bayr. - El-Fesyani. - El-Jerba. - El Jofeir. - El Akeydat - Bni Sayd. - El-Wouled. - El-Bakara. - - - - - Appendix III - - KAAT AND COFFEE CULTURE IN ARABIA - - -Kaat (_Celastrus eatha edulis_) is a shrub or small tree which grows -at an altitude of about five thousand feet in the lower mountains -of Yemen, especially on the slopes of Jebel Sohr near Taiz. It is -uncertain whether the plant is indigenous, but if introduced into Yemen -from Africa, it came very early, with coffee, when the Abyssinian -conquest caused the fall of the Himyarite empire. - -Kaat is planted from shoots which are left to grow for three years, -then all the leaves and buds are pulled off except on a few twigs; -these develop the following year into juicy shoots which are cut off, -tied in bundles, wrapped in grass to preserve their moisture, and sold -under the name of _moubarreh_. The second crop is of better quality, -and is called _mouthanee_. A small bundle, _kilwet_, sells at Taiz -for about five cents, and a larger quantity, yet scarcely a handful, -called _zirbet_, for ten cents. Only the leaves and young twigs are -masticated, but I have seen the poor glad to pick up even the castaway -dry leaves and branches to get what comfort they could out of them. - -The taste of the leaves is slightly bitter and astringent, very like -that of the peach leaf. It has stimulative properties, produces -wakefulness, and in large quantities hallucination; it is said to -preserve the teeth, and some use it as an aphrodisac. All Arabs claim -that it gives wonderful power of endurance, and that with their kaat -and tobacco they can do without food on long journeys. Every one, young -and old, Arab, Jew or Turk, uses it, and many use it in incredible -quantities. One soldier told me that he spent a rupee (33 cents) a day -for his kaat, and the Cadi of Taiz pays twenty dollars a day for this -luxury,—his household, however, is as large as the koran and divorce -can make it. - -The Ottoman government receives twenty-five per cent customs on the -market price of the plant in addition to the land tax on kaat culture. -The total revenue from this source is considerable as can be judged -from the fact that at Taiz, a town of perhaps five thousand population, -all the other taxes are farmed for ten thousand dollars per annum, -while the daily sale of kaat amounts to over three hundred dollars! - -The kaat market is open from early morning, when the fresh bundles -came on donkeys and camels, but the busiest time is in the afternoon; -for the proper thing is to eat kaat just before sunset, and to invite -guests to chew leaves an hour or two before dinner. The sellers sit -in the open air, and are mostly women. In their rather picturesque -costumes, unveiled, they sit the long day, with a basket of the green -luxury before them; sprinkling their ware from time to time to keep it -moist; untying a score of bundles to satisfy some proud epicure who -tastes before he takes; haggling over the price of a damaged bundle -with some soldier; and again swearing, as only Arabs can, to the -genuineness of the kind in question—for kaat has six distinct flavors -and varieties, each with a special name, and alas for the slave who -was sent for one and returns with another. Sometimes there is close -dealing, or on a rainy day “a corner” in the market, or some wicked -urchin runs off with a stolen bundle, and at such times all the women -talk at once, and their uproar is only rivalled in Yemen by the Jews’ -synagogue service. The kaat market at 4 P. M. is indeed a picture, full -of color and pose and motion worthy the brush of an artist; its like -can only be seen in the villages of lower Yemen, and among the many -surprises to the traveller in this Switzerland of Arabia nothing is at -first sight stranger and more ludicrous than to see sober Arabs sit -down in groups at the close of day and, as Nebuchadnezzar of old, “eat -grass like oxen.” - -According to an Arab history _kaat_ was used by the Arabs before the -coffee-plant became naturalized in the highlands of Yemen. At present -coffee and kaat grow together. Both are considered lawful to Moslems, -and Yemen’s chief source of wealth is its coffee export. The principal -districts for coffee-culture stretch north of Taiz to Lohaia and -Kankaban and Sana, and the variety of the product depends mostly on the -elevation of the plantation. There are three distinct stages in its -culture. First the seed is prepared by removing the shell or pericarp; -it is then mingled with wood ashes and dried in the shade. Then the -seed is planted in prepared beds of rich soil, mingled with manure; the -beds are covered with branches of trees to protect the young plants -from the heat of the sun and they are watered every six or seven days. -Lastly after six weeks the plants are carefully removed from the ground -and planted in rows at a distance of two or three feet from each other. -After two or three years the coffee-tree begins to yield. - -The gardens in Yemen are all constructed in terraces along the -mountain-side and are exceedingly beautiful when the plant is in full -bloom. When the berries are ripe they are plucked from the tree and -dried in the sun; afterwards packed in gunnybags they are sent to the -coast. The Arabs of Yemen seldom use the bean in making coffee but -utilize the shell or husk; the beverage is less strong, more sweet and -of course cheaper. Coffee is sown in March, budding begins in May, and -the crop is gathered in September. A great deal of Yemen coffee finds -its way overland to the interior of Arabia in addition to the export -to Aden and Hodeida; Mokha was once the great emporium but has utterly -decayed and now consists of only a few houses in ruined condition and a -dilapidated Mosque. - - - - - Appendix IV - - AN ARABIAN BIBLIOGRAPHY - - -A. The Geography of Arabia - - Andrew, (Sir W. P.)—The Euphrates Valley Route (London, 1882). - - - Barthema, (Ludovico.)—Travels in Arabia translated by R. Eden (1576). - - Begum of Bhopal—Pilgrimage to Mecca (London, 1870). - - Bent, (Theodore and Mrs.)—South Arabia (London, 1899). - - Blunt, (Lady Ann.)—A pilgrimage to Nedj, 2 vols. (London, 1883). - ” ” ” —The Bedouins of the Euphrates (London, 1879). - - Buist, (Dr.)—Physical Geography of the Red Sea (no date). - - Burckhardt, (John Lewis.)—Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabis, 2 vols. - (London, 1830; in German, Weimar, 1831). - - Burckhardt, (John Lewis.)—Travels in Arabia, 2 vols. (London, 1830). - - Burton, (Richard.)—Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El Medina - and Mecca (London, 1857). - - - Chesney—Survey of the Euphrates and Tigris, 4 vols. (London, 1850). - - Cloupet—Nouveau Voyage dans l’Arabie Heureuse en 1788 (Paris, 1810). - - Constable, (Capt. C. G., and Lieut. A. W. Stiffe.)—The Persian Gulf - Pilot (London, 1870, 1893). - - Cruttenden, (C. J.)—Journal of an excursion to Sana’a the capital of - Yemen (Bombay, 1838). - - - Doughty, (C. M.)—Arabia Deserta, 2 vols. (Cambridge, 1888). - - - Fogg, (W. P.)—Arabistan (London, 1875). - - Forster—The Historical Geography of Arabia, 2 vols. (London, 1844). - - Frede, (P.)—La Peche aux Perles en Perse et a Ceylan (Paris, 1890). - - Fresnel—Lettres in Journal Asiatique iii. Series v. 521. - - - Galland—Recueil des Rites et Ceremonies du Pelerinage de la Mecque - (Amsterdam, 1754). - - - Haig, (F. T., Maj. Gen.)—A Journey through Yemen. Proceedings of the - Roy. Geog. Soc. of London, vol. ix., No. 8. - - Harris, (W. B.)—A Journey through Yemen (London, 1893). - - Hunter, (F. M.)—Statistical Account of the British Settlement of Aden - (London, 1877). - - Hurgronje, (Snouck.)—Mekka, mit bilder atlas, 2 vols. (Hague, 1888). - - - Irwin, (Eyle.)—Adventures in a voyage up the Red Sea on the coasts of - Arabia, etc., in 1777 (London, 1780). - - - Jaubert—Geographie d’Edresi (in Arabic and French, Paris, 1836). - - Jomard—Études Geog. et Hist. sur l’Arabie (in vol. iii. Mengin’s - History of Egypt). - - - King, (J. S.)—Description of the island of Perim (Bombay Government - Records No. 49). - - - La Roque—A voyage to Arabia the Happy, etc. (London, 1726). - - - Makramah, (Aboo Abd Allah ibn Achmed.)—A Manuscript History of Aden - (see Hunter’s account). - - Manzoni—El Yemen; Tre anni nell’Arabia felicè (Rome, 1884). - - Michaelis—Receuil de Questiones proposeès a une Societê de Savants qui - par ordre de Sa Majestie Danoise font le voyage de l’Arabic - (Amsterdam, 1774). - - - Niebuhr, (Carsten.)—Original edition in German (Copenhagen, 1772). - ” ” —In French edition (Amsterdam, 1774). - - Niebuhr, (Carsten.)—Travels through Arabia trans. into English by - Robert Heron, 2 vols. (Edinburgh, 1792). - - - Ouseley, (Sir W.)—Oriental Geography of Ibn Haukal. - ” ” ” —Travels in Persia and Arabia, 3 vols. (London, 1800). - - - Palgrave—Travels in Eastern Arabia (London, 1863). - - Parsons, (Abraham.)—Travels in Asia ... including Mocha and Suez - (London, 1808). - - Phillips—Map of Arabia and Egypt with index (London, 1888). - - Prideaux—Some recent discoveries in Southwest Arabia (Proceedings Soc. - Bib. Archaelogy, London). - - - Sachau—Am Euphrat und Tigris. Reisenotizen, 1897-98 (Leipzig, 1900). - - Schapira—Travels in Yemen (1877). - - Seetzen—Travels in Yemen (1810). - - Sprenger, (A.)—Die alte Geographie Arabiens als Grundlage der - Entwicklungsgeschichte des Semitismus (Berne, 1875). - - Sprenger, (A.)—Die Post und Reiserouten des Orients (1864). - - Stanley, (Dean.)—Sinai and Palestine. - - Stern, (Rev. A.)—A journey to Sana’a in 1856 (Jewish Intelligencer, - vol. xxiii., pp. 101 seq.). - - Stevens—Yemen (1873). - - - Taylor, (Bayard.)—Travels in Arabia (New York). Various editions. - - Tuck—Essay on Sinaitic Inscriptions in the Journal of German Oriental - Society, vol. xiv., pp. 129 seq. - - - Van den Berg, (L. W. C.)—Hadramaut and the Arabian colonies in the - Indian Archipelago. Translated from the Dutch by Major Seeley - (Bombay Govt. Records No. 212 new series). - - Van Maltzen, (H. I.)—Reisen in Arabien (Braunschweig, 1873). - - Vincent’s—Periplus of the Erythrean Sea. - - Von Wrede, (Adolph.)—Reise in Hadramaut. - - - Wellstead, (Lieutenant.)—Travels in Arabia (London, 1838). - ” ” —Narrative of a journey to the ruins of Nakeb - el Hajar (Journal Roy. Geo. Soc. vii. 20). - - Whish—Memoir on Bahrein (1859). - - Wüstenfeld (F.)—Baherein und Jemameh. - - - Zehm (Albrecht.)—Arabie seit Hundert Jahren (Halle, 1875). - - -B. Manners and Customs[169] - - Arabian Nights—(Various editions). - - - Baillie, (N. B. E.)—The Mohammedan law of sale (London, 1850). - ” ” —Mohammedan Law Hanifi code (London, 1865). - ” ” —Mohammedan Law Imamia code (London, 1869). - - Boyle, (J. B. S.)—Manual of Mohammedan Laws (Lahore, 1873). - - Burckhardt’s—Arabic Proverbs (London). - ” —Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabis, (London, 1831). - - - Grady, (S. G.)—The Mohammedan Law of inheritance (London, 1869). - - - Hamilton, (Charles.)—Hedaya or Guide; a commentary on the Mussulman - Laws (London, 1886). - - - Jessup, (H. H.)—Women of the Arabs (New York, 1874). - - - Kremer, (Alfred Von.)—Kultur Geschichte des Orients, 2 vols. - (Wien, 1875-77). - - - Lane’s—Manners and Customs of Modern Egyptians, 2 vols. (London). - ” —Arabian Nights, with Notes, 4 vols. (London). - - - Meer, (Mrs. Hassan Ali.)—Observations on the Mussulmans (London, 1832). - - - Rumsey, (Almaric.)—Mohammedan law of Inheritance (London, 1886). - - - Smith, (Robertson.)—The Religion of the Semites (New York, 1889). - ” ” —Kinship and Marriage in early Arabia (Cambridge). - - Syeed, (Ameer Ali.)—Personal law of Mohammedans (London, 1880). - - - Tornauw—Das Moslemische Recht (1885). - - Trumbull, (H. C.)—The Blood Covenant (Philadelphia, 1891). - - - Von Hammer, (Purgstall.)—Die Geisterlehre der Moslimen (Wien, 1852). - - -C. History of Arabia.[170] - - Abu Jaafer Muhammed et Tabbari—Tarikh el mulook; Arabic and Latin. - Edit. Kosegarten (Leipsic, 1754). - - Abulfida—Annales Muslemici. Arab. et Latin. Various editions. - - - Badger, (George Percy.)—History of the Imams and Seyyids of Oman by - Salil Ibn Razik from A. D., 661-1856. Trans. with intro. and notes - (London, 1871). - - Blau, Otto—Arabien im Sechsten Jahrhundert. Zeitschrift des Deutsch. - Morgenland. Gesel. xviii. B. - - - Clark, E. L.—The Arabs and the Turks (Boston). - - Crichton—History of Arabia and its people (London, 1844). - - - D’Herbelot—Bibliotheque Orientale (Maestricht, 1776). - - Doughty, (C.)—Documents epigraphiques recueillis dans le nord de - l’Arabie (avec préface et traduction des inscriptions nabatéennes - de Medain-Salih par E. Renan). With 57 plates 4to. (Paris, 1884.) - - Dozy, R.—De Israeliten te Mekka (Leyden, 1864). - ” ” —Essai sur l’Histoire del’ Islamisme (Paris, 1879). - - - Eichhorn—Monumenta Antiquissima Hist. Arabum (Gotha, 1775). - - - Faria y Souza—Manuel de Asia Portuguesa (Lisbon, 1666). - - Flügel, Gustav—Geschichte der Araber bis auf den sturz des Chalifats - von Bagdad, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1864). - - Forster, Rev. C—The historical geography of Arabia (London, 1844). - - Freeman—History of the Saracens. - - Fresnel—Lettres sur hist. des Arabes avant l’Islamisme. Journal - Asiatique (1838-1853). - - - Gibbon’s—Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Chaps. l., li., lii.). - - Gilman, A.—The Saracens (Story of Nations) (London, 1891). - - - Haji Khalifah—Hist. of the Maritime wars of the Turks. Translated - from the Turkish by James Mitchell (London, 1831). - - Hallam’s—History of the Middle Ages (Chapter vi.). - - Hammer-Purgstall—Gemäldesaal der Lebensbeschreibungen grosser - Moslimischer Herrscher (Leipzig, 1837). - - Hamza Ispahanensis—Tarikh Saniy Mulook el Ardh, Arab. Lat. ed. - Gottwaldt (St. Petersburg, 1844). - - - Jergis El Mekin—Hist. Saracenica Arab. et Lat. (Leyden, 1625). - - - Khuzraji, Ali bin Hoosain El—History of Yemen (_MSS._ in Records - of Residency at Aden). - - - Milman’s—Latin Christianity Bk. iv. chaps, i., ii. - - Muir—Annals of Early Caliphate (London, 1883). (See under D. Islam). - ” —The Caliphate, its Rise, Decline and Fall (London, 1891). - - - Ockley, S.—History of the Saracens (London, 1708). - - Perceval, A. P. Caussin de—Essai sur l’Histoire des Arabes avant - Islamisme (Paris, 1836). - - Playfair, R. L.—History of Arabia Felix (Bombay, 1859.) - - Pocock, Eduardo—Specimen Hist. Arab. ex Abul Feda (Oxford, 1650). - - - Quartremere—Memoire sur les Nabatheen. - - - Rasmussen—Addimenta ad Hist. Arab. ante Islam. - - Redhouse, J. W.—A Tentative Chronological Synopsis of the history of - Arabia and its neighbors from B. C. 500000 [!] to A. D. 679 - (London, 1890). - - Roesch, A.—Die Königin von Saba als Königin Bilquis (Leipzig, 1880). - - Rycant—The present state of the Ottoman Empire (London, 1675). - - - Sachaŭ, C. Edward—The Chronology of Ancient Nations; an English - version of Arabic “Vestiges of the past,” A. H. 390-1000 - (London, 1885). - - Schmölder—Sur les Ecoles Philosophique chez les Arabes (Paris, 1842). - - Schulten—Hist. Imperii vetus Joctanidarum (Hard. Gelderland, 1786). - ” —Monumenta Vetustiora Arab (Leyden, 1740). - - Sedillot—Hist. gen. des Arabes (Paris, 1877). (Best general history.) - - Souza—Documentos Arabicos para a hist. Portuguesa (Lisbon, 1790). - - - Weil, Gustav—Geschichte der Chalifen, 3 vols. (Mannheim, 1846-51). - ” ” —Geschichte der Islamisher Völker von Mohammed bis zur - Zeit des Sultan Selim (Stuttgart, 1866). - - Wüstenfeld, F.—Die Geschichtschreiber der Araber und ihrer Werke - (Göttingen, 1882). - - Wüstenfeld, F.—Vergleichungs Tabellen der Muh. und Christ. - Zeitrechnung (Leipzig, 1854). - - Wüstenfeld, F.—Die Chroniken der Stadt Mekka gesammelt, und - herausgegeben, Arab. Deutsch, 4 vols. (Leipzig, 1857). - - Wüstenfeld, F.—Genealogische Tabellen der Arabische Stämme - (Göttingen, 1852). - - -D. Islam - - Addison, Lancelot—State of Mahumedism (London, 1679). - - Akehurst, Rev. G.—Impostures instanced in the life of Mohammed - (London, 1859). - - Alcock, N.—The rise of Mohammedanism accounted for (London, 1796). - - Anonymous—Life of Mohammed (London, 1799). - ” —Reflections on Mohammedanism (London, 1735). - ” —The morality of the East as extracted from the Koran - (London, 1766). - - Arnold, Matthew—Essay on Persian Miracle Play (London, 1871). - ” Edwin—Pearls of the Faith (Boston, 1883). - ” J. M.—Ishmael, or the natural aspect of Islam (London, 1859). - - Arnold, J. M.—Islam and Christianity (London, 1874). - - ” T. W.—The Preaching of Islam: A history of the Propagation of the - Muslim faith (London, 1896). - - - Bate, J. D.—Claims of Ishmael (Benares, 1884). - - Bedwell, W.—Mahomet’s Imposture (London, 1615). - —Mahomet unmasked (London, 1642). - - Beverly, R. M.—A reply to Higgins [See Higgins,] 1829. - - Blochman, H.—’Ain i Akbari of Abdul Fadhl, (Eng. trans.) - (Calcutta, 1868). - - Blunt, W. S.—The Future of Islam (London, 1881). - - Blyden—Islam, Christianity and the Negro Race (London, 1888). - - Bonlainvilliers, Count—Life of Mohammed. Translation. (London, 1731). - - Brinckman, A.—Notes on Islam (London, 1868). - - Brydges, H. J.—History of the Wahabis (London, 1834). - - Burton, R. F.—The Jew, the Gipsey and El Islam (London, 1898). - - Bush, Rev. George—Life of Mohammed (New York, 1844). - - - Carlyle, Thos.—Heroes and Hero-Worship (London, 1840). - - Cazenhove, Dr.—Mahometanism (Christian Remembrancer, Jan., 1855). - - - Daumer, G. F.—Mahomed und sein Werk (Hamburg, 1848). - - Davenport, John—Apology for Mohammed (London, 1869). - - De Goeje—Memoire sur les Carmathes de Baherein (Leyden, 1863). - - Deutsch, Emanuel—Essay on Islam (London, 1874). - - De Worde—A Lytell Treatyse of the Turkes Law called Alcoran (London). - - Dods, Marcus—Mohammed Buddha and Christ (London, 1878). - - Döllinger—Mohammed’s Religion nach ihrer Inneren Entwicklung und ihrem - Einflüsse (Ratisbon, 1838). - - Dozy—L’Histoire d Islamisme (Leyden, 1879). - —Het Islamisme (Leyden, 1879). - - Dugat, Gustave—Histoire des philos. et des theol. Musulmans de 632-1358 - J. C. (Paris, 1878). - - Duveyrier, H.—La conferie Musulmane de Sidi Moh. bin Ali Es-Senonsi - (Paris, 1886). - - - Falke R.—Budda, Mohammed, Christus; ein Göttingen Vergleich u. z. w. - (Gütersloh, 1897). - - Forster, Rev. C.—Mahometanism unveiled, 2 vols. (London, 1829). - - - Gagnier, J.—Ismael Abulfeda, De Vita et Rebus gestis Mohammedis - (Oxford, 1723). - - Galland—Recueil des Rites et Ceremonies du pelerinage de la Mecque - (Amst., 1754). - - Garnett, L. M. J.—The Women of Turkey and their folk-lore - (London, 1891). - - Geiger Rabbi—Was hat Mohammed aus das Judenthume aufgenommen? - (Wiesbaden, 1833). - —Judaism and Islam [translation of the above] (Madras, 1898). - - Georgens, E. P.—Der Islam und die moderne Kultur (Berlin, 1879). - - Gerock—Versuch einer Darstellung der Christologie des Korans - (Hamburg, 1839). - - Gibbon—Decline and Fall of Roman Empire (in loco). - - Gmelin, M. F.—Christenschlaverei und der Islam (Berlin, 1873). - - Guyard, S.—La civilization Musulmane (Paris, 1884). - - - Haines, C. R.—Islam as a Missionary Religion (London, 1888). - - Hamilton, C.—The Hedayah, a commentary on Moslem law. Trans. - (London, 1791.) (Edition by Grady, 1890). - - Hauri, Johannes—Der Islam in seinem Einfluss auf das Leben seiner - Bekenner(Leyden, 1880). - - Herclots, Dr.—Qanoon-el-Islam (London, 1832). - - Higgins, G.—An Apology for the life of Mohammed (London, 1829). - - Hughes, F. P.—Notes on Mohammedanism (London, 1875). - —Dictionary of Islam (New York and London, 1885). - - Hurgronje, C. Snouck—Het Mekkaansche Feest (Leyden, 1880). - —Mekka: mit bilder atlas, (The Hague, 1880). - - - Inchbald, Rev. P.—Animadversions on Higgins, (Doncaster, 1830). - - Irving, Washington—Life of Mahomet (London, 1850). - —Successors of Mahomet (London, 1852). - - Jansen, H.—Verbreitung des Islams, u. z. w., in den verschiedenen, - Landern der Erde, 1890-1897 (Berlin, 1898). - - Jessup, H. H.—The Mohammedan Missionary Problem (Phila., 1889). - - - Keller, A.—Der Geisteskampf des Christentums gegen den Islam bis - zur Zeit der Kreuzzüge (Leipzig, 1897). - - Koelle, S. W.—Mohammed and Mohammedanism critically considered - (London, 1888). - - Koelle, S. W.—Food for Reflection (London, 1865). - - KORAN: (Editions and translations). - —English versions: Alexander Ross (from French, 1649-1688), Sale - (1734), Rodwell (1861), Palmer (1880). - —First Arabic, _printed text_, at Rome, 1530 (Brixiensis). - Arabic text, Hinkelmann (Hamburg, 1649). - and Latin text,—Maracci (Padua, 1698). - text—Empress Catherine II. (St. Petersburg, 1787). - ( ” 1790, 1793, 1796, 1798). - (Kasan, 1803, 1809, 1839). - (critical edition) G. Flügel, (Leipzig, 1834, 1842, 1869). - —French, Savary (1783) and Kasimirski (Paris, 1840, 1841, 1857). - —French version, Du Ryer (Paris, 1647). - —German versions: Boysen (1773), Wahl (1828), Ullmann (1840, 1853). - —German version, Schweigger (Nurnberg, 1616). - —Latin version, Robert and Hermann (Basle, 1543). - —Russian version (St. Petersburg, 1776). - Translations exist also in the other European languages; and in - Persian, Urdu, Pushto, Turkish, Javan, and Malayan made by Moslems. - - KORAN COMMENTARIES:—(“There are no less than 20,000 in the library at - Tripolis alone”—Arnold’s Islam and Christianity, p. 81). - The most important are,—(Sunni)— - Al Baghawi, A. H. 515. - Al Baidhawi, A. H. 685. - Al Jalalain, A. H. 864 and 911. - Al Mazhari, A. H. 1225. - Al Mudarik, A. H. 701. - Ar-Razi (30 vols.), A. H. 606. - As-Safi, A. H. 668. - As-sirru’l wajiz, A. H. 715. - At-Tafsir ’l Kebir, A. H. 606. - Azizi, A. H. 1239, (and Shiah). - Az-Zamakhshari, A. H. 604. - Hussain, A. H. 900. - Ibn u’l Arabi, A. H. 628. - Mir Bakir, A. H. 1041. - Saiyid Hasham, A. H. 1160. - Sheikh Saduk, A. H. 381. - - Krehl, C. L. E.—Das leben des Moham. (Leipzig, 1884). - - Kremer, Von Alfred—Geschichte der Herrschende Ideen des Islams: Der - Gottsbegriff, die Prophetie und Staatsidee (Leipzig, 1868). - - - La Chatelier, A.—L’Islam an XIX^_e_siècle (Paris, 1888). - - Lake, J. J.—Islam, its origin, genius and mission (London, 1878). - - Lamairesse, E., (et G. Dujarric.)—Vie de Mahomet d’apres la tradition, - vol. i. (Paris, 1898). - - Lane-Poole, Stanley—Studies in a Mosque (London, 1883). - —Table-talk of Mohammed (London, 1882). - - Lane—Selections from the Koran (London, 1879). - - - MacBride, J. D.—The Mohammedan Religion Explained (London, 1859). - - Maitland, E.—England and Islam (London, 1877). - - Marracio, L.—Refutatio Al Coran (Batavii, 1698). - - Martyn, Henry—Controversial Tracts on Christianity and Islam, by the - Rev. S. Lee (edited Cambridge, 1824). - - Matthews—The Mishkat (traditions) translation (Calcutta, 1809). - - Merrick, J. L.—The life and religion of Mohammed from Sheeah - traditions (translated from Persian) (Boston, 1850). - - Mills, C.—The History of Muhammedanism (London, 1817). - - Mills, W. H.—The Muhammedan System (—1828). - - Mochler, J. A.—The relation of Islam to the Gospel (translation) - (Calcutta, 1847). - - Mohler, J. A.—Ueber das Verhaltniss des Islams zum Evangelium (1830). - - Morgan, Joseph—Mohammedanism Explained (London, 1723). - - Muir, Sir William—Life of Mahomet, 4 vols. (London, 1858 and 1897). - —Rise and Decline of Islam (in Present Day Tracts, London, 1887). - —Mahomet and Islam (London, 1890). - —Sweet First Fruits. Translated from Arabic. (London, 1896). - —The apology of Al Kindy, translated from Arabic (London, 1887). - - Muir, Sir William—The Coran: Its composition and teaching and the - testimony it bears to the Holy Scriptures (London, 1878). - - Muir, Sir William—The Beacon of Truth (from Arabic) (London, 1897.) - —The Caliphate (London, 1897). - —The Mohammedan Controversy (Edinburgh, 1897). - - Müller, F. A.—Der Islam im Morgen und Abendlanden (Berlin, 1885). - - Murray, Rev. W.—Life of Mohammed, according to Abu El Fida - (Elgin, no date). - - - Neale, F. A.—Islamism, its Rise and Progress (London, 1854). - - Niemann, G. K.—Inleiding tot de keunisvanden Islam (Rotterdam, 1861). - - Nöldecke, T.—Geschichte des Qurans (Göttingen, 1860). - —Das Leben Muhammeds (Hanover, 1863). - - - Oelsner, C. E.—Des effets de la religion de Mohammed (Paris, 1810). - - Osborn, Major—Islam under the Arabs (London, 1876). - —Islam under the Caliphs (London, 1878). - - - Pfander, Doctor—The Mizan El Hak (translated from Persian) - (London, 1867). - —Miftah ul Asrar (Persian) (Calcutta, 1839). - —Tarik ul Hyat, Persian (Calcutta, 1840). - - Palgrave, W. G.—Essays on Eastern Question (London, 1872). - —Travels in Central and Eastern Arabia. - - Palmer, E. H.—The Koran translated, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1880). - - Pelly, Lewis—The Miracle Play of Hasan and Hussain (London, 1879). - - Perron—L’Islamisme, Son Institutions, etc. (Paris, 1877). - —Femmes Arabes avant et depuis l’Islamisme (Paris, 1858). - - Pitts, Joseph—Religion and manners of Mahometans (Oxford, 1704). - - Prideaux, H.—The True Nature of the Imposture fully explained - (London, 1718). - - - Rabadan—Mahometanism (Spanish and Arabic) 1603. - - Reland (and others)—Four Treatises (on Islam) (London, 1712). - - Rodwell, J. M.—The Koran, Translated (London, 1871). - - Roebuck, J. A.—Life of Mahomet (London, 1833). - - Ross, Alexander—The Koran (London, 1642). - - Rumsey, A.—Al Sirajiyeh. Translated (London, 1869). - - Ryer, Andre du—Life of Mahomet (London, 1718). - - - Sale—Translation of the Koran with preliminary discourse - (London, 1734). - - Scholl, Jules Charles—L’Islam et son fondateur: Étude morale - (Neuchatel, 1874). - - Sell, Rev. E.—The Faith of Islam (Madras, 1880 and London, 1897). - —The Historical Development of the Quran (Madras, 1898). - - Smith, Bosworth—Mohammed and Mohammedanism (London, 1876). - - Smith, H. P.—The Bible and Islam (New York and London, 1897). - - Sprenger, Aloys—Das Leben und die Lehre des Mohammed, 3 vols. - (Berlin, 1865). - - Sprenger, A.—Life of Mohammed from original sources (Allahabad, 1851). - - Steinschneider, Moritz—Polemische Literatur in Arabischer Sprache - (Leipzig, 1877). - - Stevens, W. R. W.—Christianity and Islam (London, 1877). - - St. Hilaire, T. Bartholomew de—Mahomet et le Coran (Paris, 1865). - - Stobart, J. W. H.—Islam and its Founder (London, 1876). - - Syeed, Ahmed Khan—Essays on the life of Mohammed (London, 1870). - - Syeed, Ameer Ali—A critical examination of the life and teachings of - Mohammed (London, 1873). - - - Tassy, Garcin de—L’Islamisme d’apres le Coran (Paris, 1874). - - Taylor, W. C.—The Hist. of Mohammedanism (London, 1834). - - Thiersant, P. Dabry de—Le Mahometisme en Chine (Paris, 1878). - - Tisdall, W. St. Clair—The Religion of the Crescent (London, 1896). - - Turpin, F. H.—Hist. de la vie de Mahomet, 3 vols. (Paris, 1773). - - - Wallich, J.—Religio Turcia et Mahometis Vita (1659). - - Weil, Gustav—Das Leben Mohammeds; nach Ibn Ishak bearbeit von Ibn - Hisham, 2 vols. (Stuttgart, 1864). - - Weil, Gustav—Historische-Kritische Einleitung in den Koran - (Bielefeld, 1844). - - Wherry, E. M.—Commentary on the Quran, 5 vols. (London, 1882). - - White, J.—Bampton Lectures (on Islam) (Oxford, 1784). - - Wollaston, Arthur N.—Half Hours with Mohammed (London, 1890). - - Wortabet, John—Researches into Religions of Syria (London, 1860). - - Wüstenfeld, H. F.—Das Leben Muhammeds, 3 vols. (Göttingen, 1857.) - —Geschichte der Stadt Mekka, 4 vols. (Leipzig, 1857-61). - - - Zotenberg—Tareek-i-Tabari. Translated. - - Zwemer, S. M.—The Wahabis. Victoria Institute (London, 1900). - - -E. Christianity and Missions[171] - - Birks, Herbert—Life and Correspondence of Bishop T. V. French - (London, 1895). - - Jessup, H. H.—The Setting of the Crescent and the Rising of the - Cross or Kamil Abdul Messiah (Philadelphia, 1898). - —The Mohammedan Missionary Problem (Phila., 1879). - - Sinker, Robert—Memoir of Ion Keith Falconer (Cambridge, 1886). - - _The Arabian Mission._ Quarterly Letters, Annual Reports, and special - papers on missionary journeys from 1890-1899 (New York). - - Wright, Thomas—Early Christianity in Arabia; a historical essay - (London, 1855). This book gives a complete account of the early - spread of Christianity and cites authorities, which, being mostly - in Latin, are omitted here. - - -F. Language and Literature - - Abcarius—English-Arabic Dictionary (Beirut, 1882). - - Ahlwardt, W.—The Divans of the six ancient Arabic Poets (London, 1890). - - Ahlwardt, W.—Über die Poesie und Poetiek der Araber (Gotha, 1856). - —Bemerkungen über die ächtheit der Alten Arab. Gedichten - (Griefswald, 1872). - - Arnold, F. A.—Arabic Chrestomathy, 2 parts (Halis, 1853). - —Septem M’oallakat (Leipzig, 1850). - - - Badger, G. P.—English-Arabic Lexicon (London, 1881). - - Birdwood, Allan B.—An Arabic Reading Book (London, 1891). - - Butrus al Bustani—An Encyclopædia in Arabic, vols. i.-ix. (1876-84). - - - Cadri, Moh.—Guide to Arab. Conversation (Alexandria, 1879). - - Caspari, C. P.—Arab. Grammatik (Halle, 1876). - - Caussin de Perceval—Grammaire Arabe. (Paris, 1880). - - Cheikho, P. L.—Chrestomathia Arabica cum lexico variisque notis - (Beirut, 1897). - - Clodius, J. C.—Gram. Arabica (Leipzig, 1729). - - Clouston—Arabic Poetry for English Readers (Glasgow, 1889). - - - De Goeje, Prof.—A complete account of the authorship, etc., of the - Arabian Nights (“De Gids,” Amsterdam, Sept., 1886). - - Derenbourg, H. and Spiro J.—Chrestomathy (Paris, 1885). - - Dieterici, Fr.—Thier und Mensch vor dem König der Genien u. z. w. - (Leipzig, 1881). - —Arabisch-Deutsches Wörterbuch zum Koran und Thier und Mensch - (Leipzig, 1881). - —Die Arabische Dicht-Kunst (Berlin, 1850). - - Dombay, Fr. de—Gram. Mauro-Arab. (Vindob., 1800). - - Dozy, R. P. A.—Supplément aux dictionnaires Arabes, 2 vols. - (Leyden, 1877). - —[And many other monographs on the language.] - - - Erpenius, Th.—Grammatica, etc. (Leyden, 1767). - —Rudimenta Linguae Arabicae, Ed. A. Schultens (Leyden, 1770). - - Euting—Katalog der Arabischen Literatur (Strassburg, 1877). - - Ewald, G. H. A.—Gram. Critica linq. Arab., 2 vols. (Lips., 1831). - - - Farhat, G.—Dict. Arabe-Française (Marseilles, 1849). - - Faris Es Shidiac—Arab. Gram. (London, 1856). - - Fleischer, H. L.—Tausend und eine Nacht (text and notes, 12 vols.) - (Breslau, 1825-43). - - Fleischer, M. H. L.—Arabische Sprüche u. z. w. (Leipzig, 1837). - - Flügel, G.—Die Grammatischen Schulen der Araber nach den Quellen - bearbeitet (Leipzig, 1862). - - Flügel—Kitab El Fihrist; with German notes (Leipzig, 1871-72). - - Flügel, Gustav—Lexicon Bibliographicum Arab., 7 vols. 4to. - (Leipzig, 1835-58). - - Forbes, Duncan—Arabic Grammar. - - Freytag—Einleitung in das Studium der Arabischen Sprache (Bonn, 1861). - —Lexicon, Arab. Lat., 4 vols. (Halis, 1830). - (abridged Halis, 1837). - —Arabum Proverbia (3 vols.) (Bonn, 1838). - - - Giggejus, A.—Thesaurus linq. Arabicae, 4 vols. (Medioland, 1632). - - Gies, H.—Zur kentniss sieben Arabischer Versarten (Leipzig, 1879). - - Girgass and De Rosen—Chrestomathy (German ed. 1875. Russian, St. - Petersburg, 1876). - - Goeje, De M. J.—Debelangrykheid van de beoefening d. Arab. taal en - letterkunde (Hague, 1866). - - Golius, J.—Lexicon Arab. Lat. (Leyden, 1653). - - Green, A. O.—A Practical Arabic Grammar (Oxford, 1887). - - - Hammer Van Purgstall—Literaturgeschichte der Araber: Von ihren beginne - bis zum ende des Zwölfte Jahrhunderts der Hidschret, 7 vols. - (Wein, 1850-56). - - Heury, J.—Vocab. French-Arab. (Beirut, 1881). - - Hirth, J. Fr.—Anthologia Arab. (Jenae, 1774). - - Hoefer’s Zeitschrift—Ueber die Himyarische Sprache (vol. i., 225 sq). - - - Jahn, J.—Arabische Chrestomathie (Wien, 1802). - - Jayaker, A. S. G.—The Omanese Dialect of Arabic, 2 parts (In Journal - R. A. S., of Gt. Britain). - - - Kosengarten, J.—Arab. Chrestomathy (Leipzig, 1828). - - Kremer, A. von—Lexikographie Arab. (Vienna, 1883). - - - Lane, E. W.—An Arabic English Dictionary (i.-viii.) (London, 1863-89). - - ” W.—The Thousand and One Nights, with notes, edited, 3 vols. - (London, 1841). - - Lansing, J. G.—Arabic Grammar (New York, 1890). - - - Mac Naghten, W. H.—Thousand and One Nights literally transl., 4 vols. - (Calcutta, 1839). - - - Newman, F. W.—Dictionary, 2 vols. (London, 1890). - —Handbook of Modern Arabic (London, 1890). - - Nöldeke, Th.—Beitrage zur Kentniss d. Poesie d. alten Araber, - (Hanover, 1864). - - Nöldeke, T.—Funf Mo’allqāt, übersetzt und erklärt. II. Die Mo’allaqāt - Antara’s und Labid’s, 8 vo. (Vienna, 1900). - - - Oberleitner, A.—Chrestomathia Arab. (Vienna, 1824). - - - Palmer, E. H.—Arabic Grammar (London, 1890). - —Arabic Manual (London, 1890). - - Perowne, J. J. S.—Adjrumiah, translated with Arabic voweled text - (Cambridge, 1852). - - - Richardson—Arab. Persian English Dictionary (London, 1852). - - ” J. A.—Gram. of Arabic Language (London, 1811). - - Rosenmüller, E. F. C.—Grammar (Leipzig, 1818). - - - Sacy, A. J. Sylvestre de—An Arabic Grammar. - —Arabic Chrestomathy, 4 vols. (Paris, 1829). - - Salmone, H. A.—Arabic-English Dictionary on a new system. Vol. I. - contains the Arabic-English part, xviii. and 1254 pp. Vol. II. - contains an English-Arabic key, referring every word to the Arabic - equivalent in the first volume, 2 vols. (London, 1890). - - Socin, A.—Arabische Grammatik (Berlin, 1889). - - Steingass, F.—Arab.-Eng. and Eng.-Arab. Dict. (London, 1890). - - - Tien, A.—Handbook of Arabic (London, 1890). - —Manual of Colloquial Arab. (London, 1890). - - Trumpp, E.—Einleitung in das Studium der Arabischen Grammatiker - (Münich, 1876). - - Tychsen, O. G.—Elementale Arabicum (1792). - - - Van Dyck, C. C. A.—Suggestions to beginners in the study of Arabic - (Beirut, 1892). - - Vollers—Ægypto-Arab. Sprache (Cairo, 1890). - - Vriemoet, E. L.—Grammar (Franeker, 1733). - - - Wahrmund, A.—Arab. Deutsch Handworter buch, 2 vols. (Giessen, 1887). - —Handbuch der Arab. Sprache (Giessen, 1866). - - Winckler, J. L. W.—Arab. Sprachlehre nebst Wörterbuch (Leipzig, 1862). - - Wright, W.—Arabic Reading Book (London, 1870). - -[NOTE.—For other Arabic Lexicons, Grammars and Manuals consult Oriental -catalogues of: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., London; F. A. -Brockhaus, Leipzig; and E. J. Brill, Bibliothéque Orientale, Leyden.] - - - - -Index - -[_See also Table of Contents_] - - - Abd-ul-Wahab, 192. - - Abdulla bin Rashid, 200. - - Abraha, 311. - - Abraham, God’s promises to, 401. - - Abyssinian invasion of Arabia, 308. - - Accessibility of Arabia (see Open doors), 375. - - Adam, Tradition of the fall of, 17. - - Aden, 53, 218, 335, 376. - as a mission centre, 338. - Tribes around, 230. - - Aflaj, 145. - - Aftan, Wady, 22, 99. - - Allah (see God), 171. - - Alphabet, Arabic, 242. - - Ali, Ruins at, 105. - - Ali’s footprint, 66. - - Amara, 132, 289, 364. - - American Arabian mission, 353. - Rifles in Arabia, 66_n_, 139. - - Amulets (see charms), 283. - - Anaeze tribe, 154. - - Animals of Arabia, 28, 88, 149. - - Arab architecture, 124, 272. - characteristics, 261, 264. - genealogies, 261. - geographers, 25. - - Arab, The, 258. - - Arabia, 240. - Area of, 18. - Boundaries of, 18. - Felix (Yemen), 53, 307. - - Arabia in Moslem tradition, 17. - - Arabian field, Problems of the, 374. - history, 158. - idolatry (see Idolatry), 36. - mission, 354. - hymn, 358. - - Arabic language, 238, 254. - newspapers, 257. - - Arabs, Classes of, 260. - Origin of, 258. - - Architecture, Arab, 272. - - Arts, Arabian, 75, 274. - - Ashera, 140. - - Asir, The Turks in, 210. - - Athar, Science of, 91, 278. - - - Bagdad, 133, 321. - mission, 327. - Turkish rule in, 215. - Vilayet, 126. - - Bahrein, 97, 110, 220, 363, 373. - huts, 271. - - Barka, 84. - - Barny, F. J., 366. - - Bartholomew, St., Tradition as to, 307. - - Batina Coast, 83. - - Bayard Taylor (quoted), 121. - - Bedaa, 111. - - Bedouin, Attacked by, 60. - dress, 272. - life, 265. - tribes, 68, 132, 154. - tribes, Mission to, 328. - warfare, 203, 364. - - Beit Allah, 34, 35. - - Bent, Theodore, 73. - - Bible, Arabic, 256, 316. - depot in Bagdad, 321. - distribution in Arabia, 320, 365, 377, 384, 388. - - Black stone of Mecca, 31, 36. - - Blood covenants, 166. - revenge, 155, 265. - - Blunt, Lady Ann, 269. - - British and Foreign Bible Society, 321. - - British influence in Arabia, 218. - - Bruce, Robert, 321. - - Buchanan, Claudius, 314. - - Bunder, Abbas, 235. - Jissa, 84. - - Burckhardt (quoted), 269. - - Burial place of Mohammed, 47. - - Burns, William, 320. - - Burton (quoted), 282. - - Busrah, 124, 129, 361. - mission, 365. - - - Camel, Land of the, 88. - Use and character, 90, 247. - - Cantine, James, 353, 359, 360. - - Caravan journey from Bagdad, 136. - - Caravan routes of Oman, 94. - - Carmathian princes, 115. - - Castles in Hadramaut, 75. - - Cave-dwellers, Gharah, 86. - - Certificate, The Mecca, 40. - - Charms used by women of Mecca, 42. - - Child life among Arabs, 265. - - Christian Church in Aden, 54. - Arabia, 306. - - Christian coins used as amulets, 43. - - Christian and Missionary Alliance, 328. - - Christianity in Arabia, 159, 300. - - Christians, Hatred of, 30, 267. - St. John, 285. - - Christ’s Sonship, The Rock of, 397. - - Church Missionary Society, 322, 327, 344. - - Circumcision, 399. - - Climate of Arabia, 20, 378. - Bahrein, 106. - Nejd, 147. - Oman, 79, 80, 93. - - Cobb, H. N. (quoted), 369. - - Coffee trade in Yemen, 70. - - Coins (Carmathian), 115, 225. - - Colportage work (see Bible distribution), 384. - - Commerce, English, in Arabia, 225. - in the Nejd, 151. - of Busrah, 126. - - Consulates, British, 231. - - Controversy, 385. - - Converts from Islam, 391. - - Cosmogony, Sabean, 296. - - Covenants, 166. - - Cradle of the Human Race, 119. - - Ctesiphon, Arch of, 133. - - Cufic characters, 243. - - Customhouse, Turkish, 58. - - - Customs, Arab, 166. - - - Da Costa, Isaac, 405. - - Damar, 66. - - Date culture, 124. - palm, 121. - - Dauasir, Wady, 22, 145. - - Dedan, 97. - - Desert dwellers and the camel, 90. - - Deserts of Arabia, 24, 144. - - Difficulties of Arabian missions, 374. - - Diseases in Arabia, 280, 378. - - Diwaniyeh, 139. - - Doughty (quoted), 144, 268. - - Dress of the Arabs, 58, 70, 272. - - Dromedary, 89. - - Dutch Missionary Society, 394. - Reformed Church, 353. - - Dwellings of Arabs, 271. - - - East India Company, 221. - - Education in Mecca, 43. - of Arab Children, 266, 379. - - Educational missions, 383. - - Elephants in warfare, 312. - - English possessions (see British), 27. - - English supremacy in the Gulf, 222. - - Euphrates, Journey down the, 136. - - Europeans who visited Mecca, 31_n._ - - Eustace, M., 361. - - Evangelistic work in Arabia, 384. - - Eve, Tomb of, 17. - - Ezekiel, 54, 405. - - Ezra, Tomb of, 132. - - - Family life in Arabia, 265. - - Fanaticism, Moslem, 379. - - Fao, 129. - - Fatima, Shrine of, 50. - - Fauna of Arabia, 28. - - Feasts, Sabean, 298. - - Fetishism, 168. - - Feysul, 198. - - Fish on the Oman Coast, 82. - - Flora of Arabia, 28, 57, 65, 124. - - Foods of Arabia, 86, 123, 273. - - Forder, Mr., 329. - - Frankincense, 86. - - Free Church of Scotland, 320, 334. - - French, Bishop Thomas Valpy, 330, 331, 344. - - French coaling station, 234. - - - Games, 267. - - Geology of Arabia, 21. - - Geographers, Arab, 25. - - Gharah tribe, 85. - - Glenny, Edward (quoted), 397. - - God, The Moslem’s idea of, 171. - - God’s promises for Arabia, 395. - - Government of Bahrein, 108. - Hassa, 117. - Nejd, 150. - - Governments in Arabia, 26. - - Graves, Anthony N., 320. - - - Hadramaut, 18, 72. - - Hagar, 397, 405. - - Haig, F. T., 322, 334, 359, 378. - - Hail, 151. - - Haj Nasir, Khan of, 140. - - Hajarein, Hadramaut, 74. - - Halévy, Joseph, 73. - - Hanifs, 168. - - Harem system, 161. - - Harpur, Dr. and Mrs., 322, 325. - - Harrat (volcanic tracts), 23. - - Hassa, 115, 117. - - - Hassa, The Turks in, 217. - - Haswa, Khan El, 137. - - Haura, 75. - - Hegira, 183. - - Hejaz, Turkish rule in, 207. - - Hillah, 137. - - Himyarite dynasty, 158, 307. - - Himyarites, 259. - - Himyaritic inscriptions, 74, 244. - - History of Arabia, 158, 409. - - Hodeidah, 53, 70, 347. - Bishop French at, 347. - - Hodgson, 327. - - Hofhoof, 113. - - Honey, 86, 247, 282. - - Horses, Arabian, 88, 149. - - Hospital at Hofhoof, 116. - - Hospitality of Rashid, 200. - the Amir of Nejd, 150. - - Hostility to Christianity, 386. - - Hurgronje Snouck (quoted), 270. - - - Ibb, Experience at, 65. - - Ichthiophagoi, 82. - - Idolatry in Arabia, 36, 52, 166, 284, 307. - - Idols of Arabia, 166. - - Ignorance of Arabia, 145. - Meccans, 42. - - Ignorance, Time of, 158. - - Illiteracy, 42, 379. - - Immorality in Arabia, 40, 41. - of the Koran, 186. - - India’s influence on Arabia, 109. - - Infanticide, 161. - - “Infidels”, 30, 31. - - Inscriptions in Yemen, 313. - Himyaritic, 74. - - Interior of Arabia, 143, 377. - - Irak-Arabi, 120. - - Irrigation in Oman, 93. - - Ishmael, 35, 401. - Promises to, 398. - - Ishmaelite Arabs, 260. - - Islam, 169. - Analysis of, 177. - Borrowed elements of, 178. - God of, 171. - sects, 140,192. - - - Jauf, 275. - - Jiddah, 17, 31, 32. - - Jebel Shammar, 154. - - Jesus Christ, 49, 297. - - Jews in Arabia, 63, 66, 159, 308. - - “John the Baptist Christians,” 297. - - Joktan, 404. - - Journey in Oman, 94. - to Hofhoof, 111. - Sana, 56. - up the Tigris, 131. - - - Kaaba, 34, 35, 263. - Tradition of the, 17. - - Kaat-Culture, 63, 414. - - Kamaran Island, 33, 22O. - - Kamil, 360, 361, 423. - - Katar Peninsula, 110. - - Katif, 118. - - Kedar, Promises concerning, 398. - - Keith Falconer, Ion, 250, 331. - Mission, 343, 381. - - Kenaneh, 310. - - Kerak, 327. - - Kerbela, 138, 195. - - Khadijah, 181. - - Khans, 137. - - Koran, 186, 239, 242, 251, 282. - - Koreish, 311, 312. - - Kuria-Muria Islands, 86, 219. - - Kurna, 142. - - Kuweit, 128, 222. - - - - - Lahaj, 338. - - Lane-Poole, Stanley (quoted), 253. - - Language of the Arabs, 238, 249. - Sabean, 288. - - Lansing, Dr., 321. - J. G., 354. - - Law among Arabs (see Government), 265. - - Legend as to creation of camel, 88. - of Nebi Salih, 302. - St. Bartholomew, 307. - - Legends, 165. - - Lethaby, William, 327. - - Literature of the Arabs, 242, 251. - - Locust, 266, 273. - - Love among Arabs, 265. - - Lull, Raymond, 239, 314. - - - Mahmal, 194. - - Māadites, 259. - - Mackay’s, Alexander, Appeal, 329. - - Makalla, 73, 376. - - Mandæans, 285. - - Manufactures of Hassa, 115. - - Marriages in Arabia, 162, 268, 270. - of Mohammed, 181, 182. - Temporary, 41. - - Martyn, Henry, 314, 316. - - Martyn’s, Henry, Journal, 318. - - Mattra, 82. - - Mecca, 17, 30, 34. - Capture of, 194. - Certificate, 40. - Turkish Government of, 208. - - Meccan songs, 278. - - Medical knowledge of Arabs, 280. - mission in Aden, Need of a, 336. - - Medical mission in Yemen, 325. - missions, 361, 377. - - Medicine, Arab, 281. - - Medina, 31, 45. - - Menakha, 69. - - Menamah, 99. - - Mesopotamia, 119, 216. - Star-worshippers of, 285. - - Methods of mission work for Arabia, 383. - - Mildmay Mission to the Jews, 363. - - Mina, 39. - - Miracles, Moslem, 313. - - Mishkash, 42. - - Mission at Aden, 342. - Muscat, 82, 349. - - Missionaries needed, The kind of, 388. - - Missionary force in Arabia, 380. - problems of Arabia, 374. - - Missions in Arabia, 314. - - Mahrah tribe, 85. - - Makāmat, 253. - - Mohammed, 169, 170, 179, 298. - Ali, 196. - Arabia, before, 158. - - Mohammed’s burial place, 47. - - Mohammedan intolerance, 30. - problem, 374. - - Moharram, 140. - - Moses, 302. - - Moslem attitude toward Christianity, 386. - - Moslem world, Condition of the, 397. - - Moule, A. E. (quoted), 351. - - Mounds at Ali, 106. - in the River Country, 121. - - Mountains and table-lands, 19, 20, 22. - - Mufallis, 58. - - Muscat, 78, 363. - Attack on, 364. - - Muscat, Bishop French at, 348. - Capture of, 203. - Henry Martyn at, 319. - Importance of, 329. - - Music, Arab, 274. - - - Nasariya, 141. - - Nebaioth, Promises regarding, 398. - - Needs of Arabia, 381. - - Nefud (Sandy Desert), 20. - - Neibuhr, M., 17. - - Nejd, 20, 27, 146. - - Nejf, 138. - - Nejran, 145. - - New Brunswick Seminary Band, 353. - - Newspapers, Arabic, 241. - - Nomad population, 380. - - Nomads, Arab, 157, 264. - - North Africa Mission, 328. - - - Oaths, 57, 252, 264. - - Ojeir, 111. - - Oman, 78, 221, 234. - Interior of, 92. - Rulers of, 202. - - Open doors in Arabia, 324, 375. - - Opposition to missions, 362. - - Ottoman (see Turkish), 127. - - Outlook for missions, 391. - - - Palgrave (quoted), 19, 110, 153, 172, 198. - - Palmyrene Kingdom, 304. - - Paradise, Rivers of, 22_n_. - - Paul in Arabia, 300. - - Pearl fishing, 100. - - Pearl Islands of the Gulf, 97. - - Pearl oyster, 100. - - Penmanship, Arabic, 245. - - Pentecost, Arabs at, 300. - - Perim, Island of, 220. - - Persecution of Christians, 311, 379. - - Persia, 318. - - Persian converts, 392. - persecution of Christian Arabs, 305. - - Physicians, Arab, 42, 280. - - Pilgrimages, Early, 165. - to Mecca, 37, 184. - - Pilgrims, Duties of, 38. - Nationality of, 33. - - Pillars, The three, 39. - - Pirate coast of Oman, 82. - - Poem, “Hagar,” 405. - - Poems on women, 270. - - Poetry, Arab, 163, 164, 254, 274. - - Poets, Arabian, 46. - - Political divisions of Arabia, 26. - history of Bahrein, 107. - - Politics in Arabia, Present, 233. - - Polyandry, 162. - - Polygamy, 162, 268, 298. - - Population of Arabia, 29. - Bagdad, 134. - Irak-Arabi, 126. - - Portuguese at Muscat, 81, 202. - castle, Katif, 118. - - Postal systems of Arabia, 224. - - Post, Geo. E. (quoted), 186. - - Poverty of the Arabs, 157. - - Prayer, Call to, 326. - for Moslems, 315. - - Prayer-meeting of Star-worshippers, 289. - - Prayers of pilgrims, 38. - offered at Medina, 50. - - Preaching in Yerim, 66, 324. - to Moslems, 384. - - Priesthood, Mandæan, 298. - - Problems of the Arabian field, 374. - - Prophet’s tomb at Medina, 47. - - - Provinces of Arabia, 25. - - Ptolemy’s map of Arabia, 18. - - - Railway, Anglo-Egyptian, 226. - - Rashid, Mohammed bin, 200. - - Rastak, 79. - - Red Sea coast, 19. - - Reformation, Wahabi, 192. - - Reformed Church in America, 353. - - Religion of heathen Arabs, 164. - the Mahrah tribe, 85. - Sabeans, 288. - - Renan, Ernest (quoted), 239. - - Report of Keith Falconer, 335. - - Results of missions to Moslems, 392. - - Rhenish missionary society, 394. - - Riad, 152, 201. - - Riggs, C. E., 361. - - River country, 119, 382. - - Rivers of Arabia, 21. - - Roba’-el-Khali, 143. - - Robbers, Bedouin, 155. - - Robbery among Arabs, 264. - - Robbery, Turkish, 69. - - Roda, 68. - - Roman empire and the Arabs, 304. - - Ruins at Ali, 105. - in Hadramaut, 74. - - Ruma, Wady, 22. - - Russian influence, 235. - interests in Arabia, 223. - - - Sabeans, 285. - - Sabat, 317. - - Sacred mosque of Mecca, 35. - - Sacrifice, Sabean, 294. - - Sacrifices in Arabia, 39, 166. - - Said, Seyid, 202. - - Sana, 56, 67, 212. - Early Christianity in, 310. - Importance of, 324, 360. - - Sana inscription, 313. - - Saud, 194. - - School for African slave-boys, 366. - - Schools at Medina, 51. - in Hassa, 117. - of Mecca, 43. - - Sciences, Arabian, 274. - - Seba, 404. - - Semitic languages, 240, 241. - - Semites, 240. - - Shatt-el-Arab, 120. - - Sheba, 403, 404. - - Shehr and its ruler, 76. - - Sheikh Othman, 56, 335, 336. - mission, 342. - - Shibam, 75. - - Shiran, Wady, 22. - - Shrines of Arabia, 165. - - Sib, 84. - - Sidra Rabba, 294. - - Sin, Koran doctrine of, 190. - - Sinaitic Peninsula, 302, 375. - - Slave School at Muscat, 366. - trade, 85, 224. - - Smith, Eli, 256, 316. - - Social character of Arabs, 263. - - Socotra, 19, 219. - - Sohar, 84. - - Soldiers, Turkish, 216. - - Songs, Arabian, 275. - - Springs of fresh water in the Gulf, 99. - - Star-worshippers of Mesopotamia, 285. - - Steamship service to Bagdad, 131. - - Stern, Rev. A., 327. - - Stone, Geo. E., 351, 366, 371, 388. - - Suk-el-Shiukh, 141. - - Sultan of Turkey, 206. - - Sultans of Muscat, 79. - - Sumatra missions, 393. - - Superstitions, Arab, 165, 187, 283. - - Sur, 84. - - Sutton, Henry M., 327. - - Sword conquest of Islam, 184. - - - Taif, 45. - - Taiz, 60, 62. - - Taxation, Turkish, 69, 142, 215. - - Tenoof, 96. - - Tents, Bedouin, 155, 271. - - Telegraph system, 28, 223. - - Thoms, S. J., 366. - - Theophilus, 307. - - Tigris-Euphrates basin, 120. - - Torbat manufacture, 138. - - Totemism in Arabia, 166. - - Toweelah coin, 115. - - Trade (see Commerce), of Bagdad, 135. - - Trade of Bahrein, 105. - Muscat, 82. - - Tradition of fall of Adam and Eve, 17. - - Traditions, Henry Martyn’s, 319. - - Treaties, British, with Arabs, 228. - - Tribal marks, 166, 279, 281. - - Travellers in Yemen, 53. - - Turkish Arabia, 376. - rule, 26, 27, 58, 71, 127, 216. - - Turkish taxation, 113, 142. - - Turks in Arabia, 206. - - - Unexplored Arabia, 18. - - Unoccupied territory, 382. - - - Van Dyck, C. V. A., 256, 316. - - Van Tassel, Samuel, 328. - - Veil, Use of the, 161. - - - Wadys, 21. - - Wahabis, 83, 191. - - Wahat, 57. - - Warfare, Arab, 203. - - Wasms, 166, 242, 281. - - Water courses of Oman, 93. - - Weapons, Arab, 267. - - Wellhausen (quoted), 167. - - Wellsted’s travels in Arabia, 92, 93. - - Wilson, John, 320. - - Woman’s dress in Arabia, 272. - work for 365, 383. - - Women, Arab, 268. - Bedouin, 156. - - Women in the “Time of Ignorance”, 160. - - Women, Mohammed and, 183. - of Mecca, 40. - Yemen, 58, 70. - Sabean, 287. - - Wood carving in Hadramaut, 75. - - Worrall, H. R. L., 364. - - Wrede, Adolph von, 72. - - Writing as a fine art, 246. - Early Semitic, 242. - use of, 163. - Mandâitic, 287. - - Wyckoff, James T., 363. - - - Yakoob, 361. - - Yambo, 51, 196. - - Yemen, 53, 57, 62, 234. - as a mission field, 323. - Turks in, 211. - - Yemenites, 259. - - Yerim, 65. - - Young, J. C., 343. - - - Zemzem, Well of, 34, 36. - - Zenobia, 304. - - Zobeir, 128. - - Zwemer, Peter J., 94, 362, 367. - - Zwemer’s, P. J., journey in Oman, 94. - - Zwemer, S. M., 354, 359. - - Zwemer’s, S. M., journey down the Euphrates, 136. - - Zwemer’s, S. M., journey to Hofhoof, 111. - - Zwemer’s, S. M., journey to Sana, 56. - - Zwemer’s, S. M., journey up the Tigris, 131. - -[Illustration: Arabia] - - - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] May not this wady have been once a noble stream perhaps, as Glaser -conjectures, the fourth of the Paradise rivers? (Gen ii. 10-14) Upon -the question as to where the ancient Semites located Paradise Glaser -says that it was in the neighborhood of the confluence of the Euphrates -and Tigris, on the Arabian side. There the sacred palm of the city of -Eridu grew; there according to the view of the ancient Arabs the two -larger wadys of Central Arabia opened. The one is the Wady er-Ruma or -the Gaihan; and the other is the Wady ed-Dauasir, _a side wady_ of -which in the neighborhood of Hamdani still bears the name of Faishan -(Pishon).—See “Recent Research in Bible Lands,” by H.V. Hilprecht, -(Philadelphia, 1897). See also _The Sunday-School Times_, Vol. XXXIII, -No 49. - -[2] Samhudi’s History of Medina. (Arabic text p. 40, sqq.) - -[3] These wastes are also termed _Dakhna_, _Ahkaf_, and _Hamad_ -according to the greater or less depth or shifting nature of the sands -or the more or less compact character of the soil. - -[4] “Kitab Sinajet-el-Tarb” by Nofel Effendi (Beirut 1890). The author -follows the older Arabic authorities. - -[5] Geography of Asia (Vol II., p. 460), 1896. - -[6] The first account of a European visiting Mecca is that of Ludovico -Bartema, a gentleman of Rome, who visited the city in 1503; his -narrative was published in 1555. The first Englishman was Joseph Pitts, -the sailor from Exeter, in 1678; then followed the great Arabian -traveller, John Lewis Burckhardt, 1814; Burton in 1853 visited both -Mecca and Medina; H. Bicknell made the pilgrimage in 1862 and T.F. -Keane in 1880. The narratives of each of these pilgrims have been -published, and from them, and the travels of Ali Bey, and others, we -know something of the Holy Land of Arabia. Ali Bey was in reality a -Spaniard, called Juan Badia y Seblich, who visited Mecca and Medina in -1807 and left a long account of his travels in two volumes illustrated -by many beautiful engravings. Burton’s account of his pilgrimage is -best known, but Burckhardt’s is more accurate and scholarly. Of modern -books, that of the Dutch scholar, Snouck Hurgronje, who resided in -Mecca for a long time, is by far the best. His _Mekka_, in two volumes, -is accompanied by an atlas of photographs and gives a complete history -of the city as well as a full account of its inhabitants and of the -Java pilgrimage. - -[7] Vol. II., p. 157. - -[8] _TABLE OF MECCA PILGRIMAGE, 1880._ - -(From Blunt’s “Future of Islam.”) - -──────────────────────────┬──────────┬──────────┬───────────────── -NATIONALITY OF PILGRIMS. │ Arriving │ Arriving │ -Total Moslem │ by Sea. │ by Land. │ Pop. represented. -──────────────────────────┼──────────┼──────────┼───────────────── -Ottoman Subjects │ │ │ (excluding Arabia) │ 8,500 │ 1,000 │ 22,000,000 -Egyptians │ 5,000 │ 1,000 │ 5,000,000 From “Barbary States” │ 6,000 │ -—— │ 18,000,000 Yemen Arabs │ 3,000 │ —— │ 2,500,000 Oman and Hadramaut -│ 3,000 │ —— │ 3,000,000 Nejd, etc., Arabs │ —— │ 5,000 │ 4,000,000 -Hejaz (including Mecca) │ —— │ 22,000 │ 2,000,000 Negroes from Sudan │ -2,000 │ —— │ 10,000,000 ” ” Zanzibar │ 1,000 │ —— │ 1,500,000 Malabari -from Cape │ │ │ of G. Hope │ 150 │ —— │ ———— Persians │ 6,000 │ 2,500 -│ 8,000,000 Indians (British Subjects)│ 15,000 │ —— │ 40,000,000 -Malays and Javanese │ 12,000 │ —— │ 30,000,000 Chinese │ 100 │ —— │ -15,000,000 Mongols } │ —— │ —— │ 6,000,000 Russians, Tartars, etc.} -│ —— │ —— │ 5,000,000 Afghans and Baluchis } │ —— │ —— │ 3,000,000 -(included in Ottoman Haj)├──────────┼──────────┤ │ 61,750 │ 31,500 │ -══════════════════════════╤═════════════════════╤═════════════════ -Total pilgrims present │ 93,250 │ 175,000,000 at Arafat │ │ -──────────────────────────┴─────────────────────┴───────────────── - - -[9] Professor Hankin in the _British Medical Journal_ for June, 1894, -published the result of his analysis of Zemzem water as follows: “Total -solid in a gallon, 259; Chlorine, 51.24; Free ammonia, parts per -million, 0.93; Albuminoid ammonia, .45. It contains an amount of solids -greater than that in any well water used for potable purposes.” - -[10] Its measurements, according to Ali Bey, are 37 ft. 2 in., 31 ft. 7 -in., 38 ft 4 in., 29 ft. and its height is 34 ft. 4 in. - -[11] This religion which denies an atonement and teaches that Christ -was not crucified yet has for its great festival a feast of sacrifice -to commemorate the obedience of Abraham and the substitute provided by -God! - -[12] This is the testimony of Captain Burton, the man who translated -an unexpurgated text of the Arabian nights and left behind a book in -manuscript which his wife had the good sense to destroy and so prevent -its publication. - -[13] Hurgronje, p. 5, Vol. II. - -[14] Ibid., p. 102. - -[15] Ibid, p 11. - -[16] Ibid., pp. 61-64. - -[17] This coin is called _Mishkash_ and is a Venetian coin of Duke -Aloys Mocenigo I. (1570-77 A.D.). On one side the Duke is kneeling -before St. Mark the patron saint of Venice and on the other is the -image of Christ surrounded by stars. - -[18] The western or coast route goes by Koleis, Rabek, Mastura, and -near Jebel Eyub (Job’s Mountain) over Jebel Subh, then to Suk-es-Safra -and Suk el Jedid to Medina. The eastern road was the one taken by -Burton, and goes by way of El Zaribah, El Sufena, El Suerkish, etc., a -distance 248 miles. - -[19] These arguments may be stated briefly as follows: - -1. A tumult followed the announcement of the prophet’s death, and Omar -threatened destruction to any one who asserted it. Is it probable that -a quiet interment took place? - -2. Immediately after Mohammed’s death a dispute about the succession -arose, in the ardor of which, according to the Shiahs, the house of Ali -and Fatima, near the present tomb, were threatened by fire. - -3. The early Moslems would not be apt to _reverence_ the grave of the -prophet, as do those of later date, when tradition has exalted him -above the common humanity. The early Moslems were indifferent as to the -exact spot. - -4. The shape of the prophet’s tomb was not known in early times, nor is -it given in the traditions, so that we find convex graves in some lands -and flat in others. - -5. The accounts of the learned among the Moslems are discrepant as to -the burial of Mohammed. - -6. Shiah schismatics had charge of the sepulchre for centuries, and -because of its proximity to the graves of Abubekr and Omar, it was in -their interest to remove the body. - -7. Even the present position of the grave, with relation to other -graves, is in dispute, because the tomb-chamber (_Hujrah_) is closely -guarded by eunuchs, who do not allow any one to enter. - -8. The tale of the blinding light which surrounds the prophet’s tomb -seems a plausible story to conceal a defect. - -9. Mohammed el Halebi, the Sheikh-el Ulema of Damascus, assured Burton -that he was permitted to pass the door leading into the tomb-chamber, -and that he saw no trace of a sepulchre. - -10. Moslem historians admit that an attempt was made in A.H. 412 to -steal the bodies of Mohammed and the two companions by the third -Fatimite Caliph of Egypt; they relate marvels connected with the -failure of the attempt, and assert that a trench was dug deep all -around the graves and filled with molten lead to prevent the theft of -the body. - -11. In A. H. 654 the mosque was destroyed by a volcanic eruption, -according to the Moslem historians, but the tomb-chamber escaped -all damage! Again in A. H. 887 it was struck by lightning. “On this -occasion,” says El Samanhudi (quoted by Burckhardt) “the interior of -the Hujrah (tomb-chamber) was cleared and three deep graves were found -in the inside full of rubbish, but the author of this history, who -himself entered it, saw no trace of tombs.” The same author declared -that the coffin containing the dust of Mohammed was cased with silver. - -12. Lastly the Shiah and Sunni accounts of the prophet’s death and -burial are contradictory as to the exact place of burial. - -[20] Niebuhr, 1763; Seetzen, 1810; Cruttenden, 1836; Dr. Wolff, 1836; -Owen, 1857; Botta, 1837; Passama, 1842; Arnaud, 1843; Van Maltzan, -1871; Halvéy, 1870; Millingen, 1874; Renzo Manzoni, 1879; Glaser, 1880; -Defler, 1888; Haig, 1889; Harris, 1892; and later travellers. Defler is -the authority on the flora, Glaser on the antiquities, Manzoni on the -Turks and their government, Haig on the agricultural population, and -Harris tells of the recent rebellions. Niebuhr’s magnificent volumes -are still good authority on the geography and natural history of Yemen. - -[21] The Yemen plow is shaped like an English plow in many respects; -although it has only one handle its coulter is broad and made of iron, -a great improvement over the crooked stick of Mesopotamia. - -[22] It was not pleasant for an American to notice that nearly all the -Turkish rifles in Yemen were “Springfield 1861.” The same weapons that -were employed to break the chains of slavery in the southern states, -are now used to oppress the peaceful Yemenites. - -[23] Of the work among the latter, and my experiences in distributing -the New Testament, a report was published by the Mildmay Mission; we -therefore omit reference to it here. - -[24] Geog. Soc. Proceedings, 1887, p. 482. - -[25] Defler says in his diary that this place has “une odeur atroce et -des legions de puces et de punaises.” I also had an all-night’s battle. - -[26] Hadramaut is a very ancient name for this region. Not only does -Ptolemy place here the _Adramitæ_ in his geography, but there seems -little doubt that Hadramaut is identical with Hazarmaveth, mentioned in -the tenth chapter of Genesis. - -[27] “The Hadramaut: a Journey” by Theodore Bent. _Nineteenth Century_, -September, 1894. Also Mrs. Bent’s “Yafei and Fadhli countries.” -_Geographical Journal_, July, 1898. - -[28] Le Hadramont et les Colonies Arabes dans le Archipel Indien par -L.W.C. Van den Berg. Batavia, 1886. By order of the Government. - -[29] Notes on the Mahrah Tribe with vocabulary of their language; notes -on the Gharah tribe; geography of the southeast coast of Arabia;—July, -1845, July, 1847; and January, 1851, in the journal of the Society. - -[30] The most characteristic difference between Mahri and Arabic is the -substitution of _Shin_ (sh) for _Kaf_ (k) in many words. - -[31] “History of Oman.“ - -[32] The remainder of the chapter is quoted from the letters of my -brother, Rev. P. J. Zwemer, and the sketch of Tenoof was drawn by him -on one of his journeys. - -[33] These islands are identified by Sprenger and others with Dedan of -the Scriptures, (_Ezekiel_ xxvii. 15), and were known to the Romans by -the name of Tylos. Pliny writes of the cotton-trees, “_arbores vocant -gossympinos fertiliore etiam Tylo minore_.”—(xii. 10). Strabo describes -the Phœnician temples that existed on the islands, and Ptolemy speaks -of the pearl-fisheries which from time immemorial flourished along -these coasts. The geographer, Juba, also tells of a battle fought off -the islands between the Romans and the Arabs. Ptolemy’s ancient map -shows how little was known as to the size or location of the group. -Even Niebuhr’s map, which is wonderfully correct in the main, makes -a great error in the position of the islands; in his day the two -principal islands were called Owal and Arad, names which still linger. - -[34] This cost is divided as follows: Fishing smack _r._ 400, wages of -10 divers _r._ 2,000; wages of 12 rope-holders _r._ 2,400; apparatus -_r._ 40. Total _rupees_ 4,810. - -[35] The _Mashooah_ is a much smaller boat, like the English -jolly-boat, and is used in the harbor and for short journeys around the -islands. - -[36] The only remarkable exception is the Jebel Sinam—a rough hill of -basaltic rock that crops out in the midst of the alluvial delta near -Zobeir; a peculiar phenomenon, but proving Doughty’s general scheme for -the Arabian geology correct even here. - -[37] The dates of Hassa and Oman may equal those of Busrah but the -gardens are inferior and the quantity produced is not so large. - -[38] The last named is outside of our present subject and is a misnomer -given by Turkish audacity to the region of Hassa. - -[39] Kuweit is the Arabic diminutive of _Kut_ a walled-village; the -place is called Grane on some maps—evidently a corruption of _Kurein_ -or “little horn,” a name given to an island in the harbor. - -[40] For the interesting history of the cities that occupied the site -of Busrah before the days of Islam, and as far back as Nebuchadnezzar, -see Ainsworth’s “Personal narrative of the Euphrates expedition.” - -[41] The following are the villages and encampments between _Hillah_ -and _Diwaniyeh_: El Ataj, Doulab, Dobleh, Kwaha, Saadeh, Tenhara, Bir -Amaneh, Allaj, Anameh, Hosein, Khegaan Sageer and Khegaan Kebir. - -[42] The distinction between true Arabs of the nomad tribes and the -_Me’dan_ was made as early as 1792 by Niebuhr in his travels, and the -river boatmen still answer your question with contemptuous accent: -“Those are not Arabs, they are Me’dan.” - -[43] It contains the following Wadys: Nejran, Habuna, Wanan, Moyazet, -Bedr and the extensive Wady Dauasir. - -[44] Aflaj has six villages: Siah, Leyta, Khurfa, Ei-Rautha, El-Bedia. -Wady Dauasir has these towns: El-Hammam, Es-Shotibba, Es-Soleil, -Tamera, Ed-Dam, El-Loghf, El-Ferrà, Es Showeik, and El-Ayathat. -(Doughty.) Most of these towns are not given on the maps, but as some -of them are, it is interesting to mention the route from Hassa to this -Wady, given by Capt. Miles in a letter to Sprenger (dated Muscat, -March, 1873) and quoted in his “Alte Geog. Arabiens,” page 240. “Route -from El Hasa to Solail: Hassa, Khaiaj, Howta, Hilwa, Leilah, Kharfa, -Rondha, El Sih, Bidia, Shitba, Solail. From Solail to Runniya it is -three days’ journey. It is a town larger than Solail. The Dosiri -tribes are as follows El-Woodaieen at Solail; El Misahireh possess -most camels, etc.; Al Hassan at Wasit; Beni Goweit; El-Khutran in -Shitba; El Sherafa; El-’Umoor, east end of Wady; Al Saad, west of Wady; -El-Showaiej; El-Khamaseen; El Kahtan; Hamid; Al Amar; El Farjan in -Kharfa.” - -[45] A full account of their peculiar beliefs and their disputed origin -is given in the Appendix to Badger’s “History of Oman.” - -[46] The Talh is a large tree of roundish, scanty, leafage, with a -little dry berry for fruit, its branches are wide-spreading and thorny. -The Nebaa’ is much smaller though of considerable height; it has very -small ovate bright green leaves. The Sidi is a little acacia tree. - -[47] For our present knowledge of the government, population, cities -and villages of Nejd we are chiefly indebted to the following -travellers: Captain G. F. Sadlier, of the English army, who was the -first European to cross the Arabian Peninsula. (1819) George Wallin, -a learned young Swedish Arabist, travelling in 1845 and 1848 as a -Mohammedan doctor of law, passed through the northern desert from Jauf -to Hail and visited Medina. William Gifford Palgrave, a Jesuit Roman -Catholic, of English birth and scholarly tastes made his celebrated -journey across Arabia from west to east in 1862-63. In 1864 the bold -Italian traveller Guarmani went from Jerusalem straight to Jebel -Shammar and Aneyza. In 1865 Colonel Pelly, the British Resident at -Bushire made an important journey, in company with Dr. Colville and -Lieutenant Dawes, from Kuweit through southeastern Nejd to Riadh, -returning by Hassa to Ojeir and Bahrein. Then Charles M. Doughty -(_facile princeps_ among all authorities and travellers Arabian) made -his long, arduous, zigzag journeys through northwestern and northern -Arabia from November, 1876, to August, 1878. Our other authority for -Nejd is Lady Ann Blunt who with her husband visited the capital of Ibn -Rashid’s country from Bagdad in 1883. - -[48] If we remember that Palgrave compares Feysul’s mud brick palace -to the Tuileries of Paris, states that the great mosque of Riad can -accommodate 2,000 worshippers, and gives the Wahabi ruler a standing -army of 50,000, we deduct a little from the poetical description to -have a balance of net facts. - -[49] In our chapter on the Arabic language we shall see that the golden -age of Arabic literature was just before the birth of Mohammed. - -[50] “Mohammedanism had owed much to the Jewish kingdom of Sâba. The -rule of the Sabean kings had extended over Mecca, and Jewish ideas and -beliefs had thus made their way into the future birthplace of Mohammed. -The fact is full of interest for students of the history of Islam. The -epigraphic evidence which Dr. Glaser has presented to us shows that -the rise of Mohammedanism was not the strange and unique phenomenon it -has hitherto been thought to be. It had been prepared for centuries -previously. Arabia had for ages been the home of culture and the art of -writing, and for about two hundred years before the birth of Mohammed -his countrymen had been brought into close contact with the Jewish -faith. Future research will doubtless explain fully how great was his -debt to the Jewish masters of Mecca and the Sabean kingdom of Southern -Arabia.”—Prof. A. H. Sayce in the _Independent_. - -[51] Koelle’s Mohammed, p. 5. - -[52] Het Matriarchaat bij de onde Arabieren (1884), and _Supplement_ to -the same, in answer to critics, (1885). The Hague. - -[53] Smith’s “Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia,” pp. 100, 104. - -[54] Palmer’s Introduction to the Koran, p. xv. - -[55] In the order of time, and to fully grasp the extent of Christian -ideas prevalent in Arabia the chapter on Early Christianity in Arabia -should precede this chapter on Islam; but logically that chapter -belongs with the other chapters on mission-work. The same is true, in a -measure, of the chapter on the Sabeans. - -[56] See pp. 177, 178, for tables showing the Elements in Islam and the -sources from which they were derived. - - -[60] Koelle’s Mohammed, p. 27. - -[61] See an article on “Mohammedanism and Christianity.”—Dr. Robert -Bruce, _The Christian Intelligencer_ (New York) April, 1894. - -[62] Even the sacred books of India and China and Ancient Egypt compare -more favorably with the Bible in this respect than does the Koran. They -teach the heinous character of sin, as sin, and do not deny the need of -a mediator or of propitiatory sacrifice but are full of both ideas. - -[63] For a Chronological table of Arabian history, from the earliest -times to the present, _see Appendix_. - -[64] The four orthodox sects are called: Hanafis, Shafis, Malakis, and -Hambalis. The last was founded by Ibn Hambal at Bagdad, 780 A. D. it is -the least popular sect. - -[65] The Mahmal is a covered litter, an emblem of royalty and of -superstitious honor sent from Cairo and Damascus to Mecca, to this day. - -[66] Zehm’s Arabie, p. 332. - -[67] Saud died at the age of forty-five, in April, 1814, from fever, -at Deraiyah. He was a strong-willed ruler but administered justice -with rigor; he was wise in council and skillful in settling disputes -and healing factions. Of his eight children, Abdullah, the eldest, -succeeded him as ruler. - -[68] The history of its tedious prosecution and all its cruelty on the -side of the Turks is told by Burckhardt, the traveller, who was himself -living in Mecca at this time. - -[69] Palgrave visited the Wahabi capital during the reign of Feysul -and gives his usual picturesque descriptions of the court and family -life of the genial tyrant. But it is necessary to take his accounts -of Riad _cum grano salis_; a Jesuit Roman Catholic would not describe -the strict Puritanism of the Wahabis with any degree of admiration. -Palgrave’s statistics of the strength of Feysul’s army and of the -population of his dominions are utterly unreliable and greatly -exaggerated. However one must read Palgrave to know what was the -condition of the Wahabi empire in 1860-63, for he is our only authority -for that period. - -[70] The history of Mecca under these Sherifs is given by Snouck -Hurgronje at length in his “Mekka.” - -[71] This is according to the testimony of Walter B. Harris who was in -Yemen shortly after the rebellion. - -[72] See Lady Ann Blunt’s “Bedouins of the Euphrates.” - -[73] Statesman’s Year Book. - -[74] For a complete account of Perim, see “The Description and History -of Perim,” by J. S. King, Bombay, 1877. - -[75] Treaties were made with the Arabs of the pirate coast in 1835, -1838, 1839, 1847, 1853, and 1856; of these we shall speak later. - -[76] The British India steamer, carry the mails and leave Bombay and -Busrah once a week, touching at the intermediate ports in the Gulf, -after Kerachi, as follows: Gwadur, Muscat, Jask, Bunder Abbas, Lingah, -Bahrein, Bushire, Fao and Mohammerah; the journey lasts a fortnight and -the distance, zigzag, is about one thousand nine hundred miles. - -[77] In a recent paper read before the Society of Arts in London Mr. C. -E. D. Black of the Geographical Department of the India office urges -other reasons for the practicability of this route.—(London _Times_, -May 7th, 1898.) - -[78] _Times_ of India, June 17, 1899. - -[79] - -1. Ras el Kheima—Jowasim tribe. 2. Um-el-Kawain—Al-bu-Ali tribe. 3. -Ajman—Al-bu-Ali tribe. 4. Sharka—Jowasim tribe. 5. Debai—Al-bu-falasal -tribe. 6. Abu Dhabi—Bni Yas tribe. - -All of these tribes reside between Katar and Ras el Had on the Arabian -coast. (See Aitchison, Vol. VII., No. xxvi.) - -[80] Curzon’s “Persia,” Vol. II., p. 453. - -[81] The following tribes in the vicinity of Aden receive (or received) -annual subsidies from the British Government: - -_Tribe._ _Estimated Population._ Abdali 15,000 Fadhli 25,000 Akrabi 800 -Subaihi 20,000 Haushabi 6,000 Alawi 1,500 Amir 30,000 Yaffai 35,000 - -Thus the total estimated population of these tribes is 133,300 and the -total amount of the annual stipend paid them in 1877, was 12,000 German -crowns. (Hunter’s “Aden,” p. 155.) - -[82] In a remarkable article, the _Novoe Vremya_ makes known the -Russian discovery of “a new British intrigue.” It appears that Great -Britain, not content with the virtual annexation of Egypt and the -Sudan, is even, while carrying out her plans for the absorption of -the Transvaal and the advancement of her interests in Persia, busily -engaged in setting up a Mohammedan Power which is to rival that of -the Sultan, and is ultimately to be used as a means of menacing, if -not destroying, Russian authority in Central Asia. The puppet Prince -selected for this purpose is the Sherif of Mecca. According to the -_Novoe Vremya_, the Sherif has recently received from England a -letter stating that the British government, having decided to invest -a certain worthy but impecunious Mohammedan Sheikh with the Caliphate -of Zeila, on the borders of Somaliland, and recognizing the Sherif as -a descendant of the Prophet and great protector of Islam, considers -it desirable for the Sherif on the day of the appointment of the new -Caliph to issue a manifesto expressing his approval. In return for -this service, Great Britain will proclaim Mecca and Medina the private -property of the Sherif, will assure to him the greater part of the -revenues of the new Caliphate, and will defend him by diplomatic means, -or even by force of arms, against the interference of the Sultan or -any other Foreign Power. It is perhaps needless to say that the author -of this intrigue is said to be Mr. Chamberlain, who is described as -a man “without faith, without truth, capable of trampling under foot -every commandment, whether of God or man, in order to accomplish his -purpose of placing Great Britain at the head of the Powers of the -world.”—_Times_ of India, 1899. - -[83] He speaks of it as follows in his Histoire des Langues Semitques, -p. 342 “Cette langue, auparavant inconnue, se montre à nous -soudainement dans toute sa perfection, avec sa flexibilite, sa richesse -infinie, tellemen-complete, en un mot, que depnis ce temps jusqu’a nos -jours elle n’a subi ancune modification importante. Il n’y a pour elle -ni enfance, ni vieillesse; une fois qu’on a signalé son apparition et -ses prodijieuses cont quêtes, tout est dit sur son compte. Je ne sais -si l’on trouverait un autre exemple d’un idiome entrant dans le monde -comme celui-ci, sans état archaïque, sans degrés intermediaires ni -tatonnements.” - -[84] Von Kremer, Guidi, Hommel. - -[85] Sayce, Sprenger, Schrader, De Goeje, Wright. - -[86] Assyrian Grammar, p. 13. - -[87] An account of this language or dialect was given by Surgeon H. J. -Carter in Journal Roy. Asiat. Soc., July, 1847. - -[88] Lansing. - -[89] Found in the _Edinburgh Review_ for July, 1866, article “Mohammed.” - -[90] “It would take a long list to exhaust the religious, literary and -scientific contributions to the Arabic language from the missionaries -in Syria. They include the translation of the Scriptures and the -stereotyping of the same in numerous styles; the preparation of a -Scripture guide, commentaries, a concordance, and a complete hymn and -tune book; text-books in history, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, -logarithms, astronomy, meteorology, botany, zoölogy, physics, -chemistry, anatomy, physiology, hygiene, materia medica, practice of -physic, surgery, and a periodical literature which has proved the -stimulus to a very extensive native journalism. The Protestant converts -of the mission, educated by the missionaries, have written elaborate -works on history, poetry, grammar, arithmetic, natural science, and -the standard dictionary of the language, and a cyclopædia which will -make a library by itself, consisting of about twenty volumes of from -six hundred to eight hundred pages each.”—_Dr. G. E. Post, in New York -Evangelist_. - -[91] Gen. xxv. 16. - -[92] In the _Edinburgh Review_, July, 1866. - -[93] International Routes of Asia, by Elisée Reclus, in New York -_Independent_, May 4, 1899. - -[94] Smith’s Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia, pp. 9, 17, 131. - -[95] What the boys and girls of the towns can study we have described -in our chapter on Mecca. - -[96] This is the testimony of Burckhardt and Doughty. - -[97] Arabia Deserta, Vol. I., p. 238. - -[98] Translation from Mekka, Vol. II., p. 187. - -[99] See Burckhardt’s book for further particulars. - -[100] Signifying “Allah.” - -[101] Baidhawi’s Commentary _in loco_. - -[102] For on account of these ancient superstitions and idolatries -still practiced, see W. Robertson Smith’s “Religion of the Semites” -and his “Kinship and marriage in Early Arabia.” The mass of purely -Mohammedan superstition can be studied in books like the Arabian Nights -and Lane’s “Modern Egyptians.” - -[103] This chapter is an enlargement of a paper on “The -Star-Worshippers of Mesopotamia” read before the Victoria Institute, -Adelphi Terrace, London, 1897. - -[104] Kessler. - -[105] Surah ii. 59; v. 73; xxii. 17 - -[106] According to Gesenius, Sabeans should be _Tsabians_ from -_tsabaoth_, the “host of heaven.” Nöldeke and others say it comes from -a root _subba_ to wash, baptise, and refers to the manner of their -worship. Gibbon is perhaps correct when, on the authority of Pocock, -Hettinger, and D’Herbelot, he states the origin of their other name -thus: “A slight infusion of the gospel had transformed the last remnant -of the Chaldean polytheists into the Christians of St. John at Bussora.” - -In regard to their name _Sabeans_, Lane’s Arabic dictionary says that -it comes from a root meaning “one who has departed from one religion -to another religion.” The Arabs used to call the prophet _as-Sabi_, -because he departed from the religion of the Koreish to El-Islam. -Nasoreans is the name given them by some authors. According to -Petermann they themselves give this title only to those of their number -who are distinguished for character or knowledge. It doubtless comes -from [Greek: Nazôrãioi], the early half-Christian sect of Syria. - -[107] The only grammar of the language is the elaborate _Mandäische -Grammatik_ of the indefatigable scholar Nöldeke. One great drawback of -the book however is that the _Hebrew_ character is used throughout and -not the Mandâitic. - -[108] Leviticus xiv. 4-7, 49-53. - -[109] Cf. Job xxxi. 26-28. - -[110] The first printed and translated edition of the _Sidra Rabba_ -was by Math. Norberg (Copenhagen, 1815-16), but it is said to be so -defective that it is quite useless critically; Petermann reproduced the -Paris MSS. in two volumes at Leipsic, 1867. Besides the _Sidra Rabba_ -there are: _Sidra d’Yaheya_ or Book of St. John, also called _Drasche -d’Malek_ (discourse of the King); The _Diwan_; The _Sidra Neshmata_, or -book of souls; and last, but not least, the books of the zodiac called -_Asfar Malwashee_. Except for the _small_ portion of the _Sidra Rabba_ -found in Brandt’s recently published _Mandäische Schriften_ (1895) all -of the above still await critical study and editing. - -[111] See the history of Gnostic teaching, especially that of the -Ophites and Sethians. All the evil characters in the Old Testament, -with Cain at their head, were set forth as spiritual heroes. Judas -Iscariot was represented as alone knowing the truth. I find no large -account of the serpent in the Sabean system; this may be otherwise -accounted for. - -[112] Gibbon. - -[113] Sale’s Koran. - -[114] Galatians i. 17. - -[115] Gal. i. 18; Acts ix. 9, 25. - -[116] Many others, including Hilary, Jerome, Theodoret and the -Occumenian commentators are stated by Rawlinson (St. Paul in Damascus -and Arabia, p. 128), to hold the same opinion. Porter, not alone -of modern writers, puts forth the same view in his “Five Years in -Damascus,” and supposes that Paul’s success was great enough to provoke -the hostility of Aretas and make him join the later persecution. - -[117] “Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia,” p. 214. - -[118] Koran, Surah vii. 71. - -[119] Desert of the Exodus, p. 50. - -[120] Acts xvii. 26. - -[121] Acts xvii. 29. - -[122] Acts xvii. 31. - -[123] Acts xvii. 25. - -[124] Acts xx. 20, 27. - -[125] Wright’s “Early Christianity in Arabia,” 1855. - -[126] Buchanan’s Christian Researches. - -[127] Wright, p. 77. - -[128] The latest version of his life is by Nöldeke in his “Sketches -from Eastern History.” (London, 1892.) - -[129] Wright, p. 144. - -[130] Kurtz’ “Church History,” Vol. I., p. 386. - -[131] See however, _Christianity in China, Tartary and Tibet_, by Abbe -Huc, Vol. I., p. 88 (New York, 1857). He speaks of Christians in Nejran -as late as the tenth century. - -[132] See Smith’s “Short History of Missions.” Peroquet, Vie de Raymund -Lull (1667). Low de Vita Ray. Lull (Halle, 1830). Helfferich Raymund -Lull (Berlin, 1858). Dublin _Univ. Mag._, Vol. LXXVIII., p. 43, “His -Life and Work.” - -[133] O merciful God, who hast made all men, and hatest nothing that -Thou hast made, nor wouldest the death of a sinner, but rather that -he should be converted and live: have mercy upon all Jews, _Turks_, -Infidels, and Heretics, and take from them all ignorance, hardness of -heart, and contempt of Thy Word, and so fetch them home, blessed Lord, -to Thy flock, that they may be saved among the remnant of the true -Israelites, and be made one fold under one Shepherd, Jesus Christ our -Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, -world without end. Amen. - -[134] “Life of Henry Martyn,” by George Smith, C. I. E., LL. D., (1892) -p. 226. - -[135] Journal of Mr. Anthony N. Groves, Missionary to and at Bagdad. -(London, 1831.) - -[136] George Smith’s Life of Martyn, p. 563. - -[137] In 1876, after the death of Dr. Wilson, Mr. and Mrs. Stothert of -the Free Church Mission arranged to take a trip up the Persian Gulf as -far as Bagdad. They were deeply impressed by the spiritual needs of the -whole of Eastern Arabia. On the way they sold Scriptures and on their -return called attention to the needs of Bagdad. For twenty-five years -special prayer was offered for Eastern Arabia every Monday by these two -missionaries! - -[138] _Church Missionary Intelligencer_ for May and June, 1887. - -[139] The General also published an account of his journey in Yemen -from a geographical standpoint in the _Geographical Journal_, Vol. IX., -p. 479. See also _The Missionary Review of the World_, October, 1895. - -[140] “The Missionary Expansion since the Reformation.”—Graham, p. 19. -“Life and Letters of Rev. A. Stern.” - -[141] On Van Tassel’s work and experiences see “North Africa” (21 -Linton Road, Barking, London), Vol. for 1890, pp. 4, 21, 43, 59, 78; -Vol for 1891, pp. 2, 14, 27, 31 and 50. - -[142] Mackay of Uganda, by his sister, (New York, 1897) pp. 417-430 -gives the article in full. - -[143] The text of this resolution is quoted at the head of chapter -thirty-five. - -[144] See “Memorials of the Hon. Ion Keith Falconer.”—Robert Sinker -(6th Edition Cambridge 1890) and Ion Keith Falconer, Pioneer in Arabia -by Rev. A. T. Pierson, D. D. (Oct. 1897, _Missionary Review of the -World_). - -[145] Kalilah and Dimnah, or The Fables of Bidpai, by I. G. N. Keith -Falconer, Cambridge, 1885. - -[146] Life and Correspondence of T. V. French, First Bishop of Lahore, -by Rev. Robert Birks, (Murray, London, 1895). 2 vols. - -[147] The letters appeared in the _Church Missionary Intelligencer_, -for May and July, 1891. - -[148] An able plea for the acceptance of the Mission by the Church was -made by Rev. J. A. Davis, in the _Christian Intelligencer_, N. Y., -September 18, 1889. - -[149] This meeting with General Haig was described by him in an account -in the London _Christian_ (June, 1891). - -[150] The Mohammedan Missionary Problem.—H. H. Jessup, D.D., 1879. - -[151] Vol. II., pp. 503-529. - -[152] Notes on Islam: A Hand-book for Missionaries.—Rev. Arthur -Brinckman. London, 1868. - -[153] Reprinted in “North Africa” (April, 1892), under the title: -_Preaching, not Controversy_. - -[154] History of the Church Missionary Society, Vol. II., p. 155. - -[155] The Mohammedan Controversy and other articles—Sir Wm. Muir, -Edinburgh, 1897. - -[156] _Missionary Review_, October, 1893, p. 727, in article by “C. H.” - -[157] Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race, by E. W. Blyden, London, -1888. - -[158] Missions in Sumatra, Dr. A. Schreiber, “North Africa,” May, 1896. - -[159] Gen. xii. 3, xviii. 8, xxii. 18, xxvi. 4, xxviii. 14; Num. xiv. -21; Forty-three of the Psalms; Isaiah ii. 2, 18, etc., etc.; Jeremiah -iii. 17; Dan. vii. 13, 14; Joel ii. 28; Jonah, iii., iv.; Micah v. 4; -Hab. ii. 14; Zeph. ii. 11; Hag. ii. 6, 7; Zech. ix. 10, xiv. 9; Mal. i. -11. - -[160] See Isaiah xxxv. 1-3, xl. 3, xli. 19, xliii. 19, li. 3; Ezekiel -xxxiv. 25, xlvii. 8; Ps. lxxii. 9, etc. - -[161] According to Gesenius this is Suez, while Keil identifies it with -Jifar, a site in the northwestern part of Arabia near Egypt. - -[162] Compare Rom. iv. 11, and Gal. iii. 17. - -[163] Gen. xxi. 9-22. - -[164] Gen. xxv. 11-18, and 1 Chron. i. 28. - -[165] Isaiah xxi. 13-17 and Jer. xlix. 28-33. - -[166] See Smith’s Bible Dictionary. - -[167] Cf. Exodus xxiii. 31 and Deut. xi. 24. - -[168] _The Christian Intelligencer_ (N. Y.), March 15, 1899. - -[169] Consult Bibliographies of Palestine and Syria with inference to -Nomad life; also D. Islam. - -[170] Consult also list in Gilman’s Saracens. - -[171] Consult British and Foreign Bible Society Reports for account -of Scripture circulation; the _Free Church of Scotland Monthly_ -for reports of Keith Falconer Mission; the _Church Missionary -Intelligencer_, 1887, vol. xii., pp. 215, 273, 346, 408; _Missionary -Review of the World_, 1892-1899, October numbers, and _Record of the -American Bible Society_, 1898-1900. - - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Arabia: The Cradle of Islam, by S. M. 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M. Zwemer - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Arabia: The Cradle of Islam - -Author: S. M. Zwemer - -Release Date: December 1, 2020 [EBook #63928] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARABIA: THE CRADLE OF ISLAM *** - - - - -Produced by Michael Ciesielski, Les Galloway and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="transnote"> -<h3>Transcriber’s Notes</h3> - -<p>Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations -in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other -spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.</p> - -<p>The structure of some tables has been modified to improve legibility -within page width.</p> -</div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><a id="A_TYPICAL_ARAB_OF_YEMEN"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp51" id="illus-003-frontis" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-003-frontis.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">A TYPICAL ARAB OF YEMEN</div> -</div> - -</div> -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="chapter"></div> - - -<h1>Arabia: The Cradle<br />of Islam</h1> - - -<p class="pcntr">Studies in the Geography, People and<br /> -Politics of the Peninsula with an<br /> -account of Islam and Mission-work.</p> - -<p class="pcntr spcd"><big>REV. S. M. ZWEMER, F.R.G.S.</big></p> - -<p class="pcntr spcd"><small>INTRODUCTION BY</small><br /> -REV. JAMES S. DENNIS, D.D.</p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp51" id="device" style="max-width: 4em;"> - <img class="" src="images/device.jpg" alt="Publisher’s device" /> -</div> - -<p class="pcntr spcd">EDINBURGH AND LONDON<br /> -<big>Oliphant Anderson and Ferrier</big><br /> -1900</p> - - -<p class="pcntr"><small>Printed by<br /> -THE CAXTON PRESS<br /> -171-173 Macdougal St.<br /> -New York, U.S.A.</small></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="DEDICATED">DEDICATED</h2> -</div> - -<p class="pcntr">DEDICATED<br /> - -<small>TO</small><br /> - -_The “Student Volunteers” of America_<br /> - -<small>IN MEMORY OF</small><br /> - -THE TWO AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS WHO LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES FOR ARABIA</p> - -<p class="pcntr"><big>PETER J. ZWEMER</big><br /> - -<small>AND</small><br /> - -<big>GEORGE E. STONE</big></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>And Jesus said unto him: This day is salvation come to this house, forasmuch -as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man is come to -seek and to save that which was lost.—<span class="smcap">Luke</span> xix. 9, 10.</p></div> -<hr class="chap" /> -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1"></a>1</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Introductory_Note">Introductory Note</h2> -</div> - - -<p>The author of this instructive volume is in the direct line -of missionary pioneers to the Moslem world. He follows -Raymond Lull, Henry Martyn, Ion Keith-Falconer, and -Bishop French, and, with his friend and comrade the Rev. -James Cantine, now stands in the shining line of succession at -the close of a decade of patient and brave service at that -lonely outpost on the shores of the Persian Gulf. Others have -followed in their footsteps, until the Arabian Mission, the -adopted child of the Reformed Church in America, is at -present a compact and resolute group of men and women at -the gates of Arabia, waiting on God’s will, and intent first of -all upon fulfilling in the spirit of obedience to the Master the -duty assigned them.</p> - -<p>These ten years of quiet, unflinching service have been full -of prayer, observation, study, and wistful survey of the great -task, while at the same time every opportunity has been improved -to gain a foothold, to plant a standard, to overcome a -prejudice, to sow a seed, and to win a soul. The fruits of this -intelligent and conscientious effort to grasp the situation and -plan the campaign are given to us in this valuable study of -“Arabia, the Cradle of Islam.” It is a missionary contribution -to our knowledge of the world. The author is entirely -familiar with the literature of his subject. English, German, -French, and Dutch authorities are at his command. The less -accessible Arabic authors are easily within his reach, and he -brings from those mysterious gardens of spices into his clear, -straightforward narrative, the local coloring and fragrance, as -well as the indisputable witness of original medieval sources. -The ethnological, geographical, archaeological, commercial, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2"></a>2</span> -political information of the descriptive chapters brings to our -hands a valuable and readable summary of facts, in a form -which is highly useful, and will be sure to quicken an intelligent -interest in one of the great religious and international problems -of our times.</p> - -<p>His study of Islam is from the missionary standpoint, but -this does not necessarily mean that it is unfair, or unhistorical, -or lacking in scholarly acumen. Purely scientific and academic -study of an ethnic religion is one method of approaching -it. It can thus be classified, labelled, and put upon the shelf in -the historical museum of the world’s religions, and the result -has a value which none will dispute. This, however, is not the -only, or indeed the most serviceable, way of examining, estimating -and passing a final judgment upon a religious system. -Such study must be comparative, it must have some standard -of value; it must not discard acknowledged tests of excellence; -it must make use of certain measurements of capacity and -power; it must be pursued in the light of practical ethics, and -be in harmony with the great fundamental laws of religious experience -and spiritual progress which have controlled thus far -the regenerative processes of human development.</p> - -<p>The missionary in forming his final judgment inevitably compares -the religion he studies with the religion he teaches. He -need not do this in any unkind, or bitter, or abusive spirit. -On the contrary, he may do it with a supreme desire to uncover -delusion, and make clear the truth as it has been given -to him by the Great Teacher. He may make a generous and -sympathetic allowance for the influence of local environment, -he may trace in an historic spirit the natural evolution of a -religious system, he may give all due credit to every worthy -element and every pleasing characteristic therein, he may regard -its symbols with respect, and also with all charity and consideration -the leaders and guides whom the people reverence; -yet his own judgment may still be inflexible, his own allegiance -unfaltering, and he may feel it to be his duty to put into plain,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3"></a>3</span> -direct, and vigorous prose his irreversible verdict that Christianity -being true, Islam is not, Buddhism is not, Hinduism is -not.</p> - -<p>There he stands; he is not afraid of the issue. His Master -is the one supreme and infallible judge, who can pronounce an -unerring verdict concerning the truth of any religion. He has -ventured to bear witness to the truth which his Master has -taught him. Let no one lightly question the value of the contribution -he makes to the comparative study of religion.</p> - -<p>The spirit in which our author has written of Islam is marked -by fairness, sobriety, and discrimination, and yet there is no -mistaking the verdict of one who speaks with an authority -which is based upon exceptional opportunities of observation, -close study of literary sources and moral results, and undoubted -honesty of purpose.</p> - -<p>It may not be out of place to note the hearty, outspoken -satisfaction with which the author regards the extension of -British authority over the long sweep of the Arabian coast line. -His admiration and delight can only be fully understood by -one who has been a resident in the East, and has felt the blight -of Moslem rule, and its utter hopelessness as an instrument of -progress.</p> - -<p>Let this book have its hour of quiet opportunity, and it will -broaden our vision, enlarge our knowledge, and deepen our interest -in themes which will never lose their hold upon the attention -of thoughtful men.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">James S. Dennis.</span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4"></a>4<br /><a id="Page_5"></a>5</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Preface">Preface</h2> -</div> - - -<p>There are indications that Arabia will not always remain -in its long patriarchal sleep and that there is a future in -store for the Arab. Politics, civilization and missions have all -begun to touch the hem of the peninsula and it seems that soon -there will be one more land—or at least portions of it—to add -to “the white man’s burden.” History is making in the Persian -Gulf, and Yemen will not forever remain, a tempting prize,—untouched. -The spiritual burden of Arabia is the Mohammedan -religion and it is in its cradle we can best see the fruits -of Islam. We have sought to trace the spiritual as well as the -physical geography of Arabia by showing how Islam grew out -of the earlier Judaism, Sabeanism and Christianity.</p> - -<p>The purpose of this book is especially to call attention to -Arabia and the need of missionary work for the Arabs. There -is no dearth of literature on Arabia, the Arabs and Islam, but -most of the books on Arabia are antiquated or inaccessible to -the ordinary reader; some of the best are out of print. The -only modern work in English, which gives a general idea of -the whole peninsula is Bayard Taylor’s somewhat juvenile -“<i>Travels in Arabia</i>.” In German there is the scholarly compilation -of Albrecht Zehm, “<i>Arabie und die Araber, seit -hundert jahren</i>,” which is generally accurate, but is rather dull -reading and has neither illustrations nor maps. From the -missionary standpoint there are no books on Arabia save the -biographies of Keith-Falconer, Bishop French and Kamil Abdul-Messiah.</p> - -<p>This fact together with the friends of the author urged their -united plea for a book on this “Neglected Peninsula,” its people, -religion and missions. We have written from a missionary<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6"></a>6</span> -viewpoint, so that the book has certain features which are intended -specially for those who are interested in the missionary -enterprise. But that enterprise has now so large a place in -modern thought that no student of secular history can afford -to remain in ignorance of its movements.</p> - -<p>Some of the chapters are necessarily based largely on the -books by other travellers, but if any object to quotation marks, -we would remind them that Emerson’s writings are said to -contain three thousand three hundred and ninety three quotations -from eight hundred and sixty-eight individuals! The -material for the book was collected during nine years of residence -in Arabia. It was for the most part put into its present -form at Bahrein during the summer of 1899, in the midst of -many outside duties and distractions.</p> - -<p>I wish especially to acknowledge my indebtedness to W. A. -Buchanan, Esq., of London, who gave the initiative for the -preparation of this volume and to my friend Mr. D. L. Pierson -who has generously undertaken the entire oversight of its publication.</p> - -<p>The system for the spelling of Arabic names in the text follows -in general that of the Royal Geographical Society. This -system consists, in brief, in three rules: (1) words made familiar -by long usage remain unchanged; (2) vowels are pronounced -as in Italian and consonants as in English; (3) no redundant -letters are written and all those written are pronounced.</p> - -<p>We send these chapters on their errand, and hope that especially -the later ones may reach the hearts of the Student Volunteers -for foreign missions to whom they are dedicated; we -pray also that the number of those who love the Arabs and -labor for their enlightenment and redemption may increase.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="smcap">S. M. Zwemer.</span></p> - -<p><i>Bahrein, Arabia.</i></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>7</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Table_of_Contents">Table of Contents</h2> -</div> - - -<table class="small" summary=""> -<tr> -<td></td> -<td class="tdr">PAGE</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#I">I</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Neglected Peninsula</span></td> -<td class="tdr">17</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Arabia the centre of Moslem world—Its boundaries—The coast—Physical -characteristics—Climate—Water-supply—Geology—The -Wadys—Mountains—Deserts.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#II">II</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Geographical Divisions of Arabia</span></td> -<td class="tdr">25</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Natural divisions—Provinces—Political geography—Important -flora and fauna—Population.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#III">III</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Holy Land of Arabia—Mecca</span></td> -<td class="tdr">30</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Its boundaries—Sacredness—European travellers—Jiddah—Its -bombardment—The pilgrimage—Mecca—Its location—Water-supply—Governor—The -Kaaba—The Black Stone—Zemzem—Duty -of pilgrimage—The pilgrims—The day of sacrifice—The -certificate—Character of Meccans—Temporary marriages—Superstitions—Mishkash—Schools -of Mecca—Course of -study.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#IV">IV</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Holy Land of Arabia—Medina</span></td> -<td class="tdr">45</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Taif—Heathen idols—The road to Medina—Sanctity of Medina—The</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh">prophet’s mosque—Was Mohammed buried there?—The</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh">five tombs—Prayer for Fatima—Living on the pilgrims—Character</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh">of people—Yanbo—Importance of Mecca to Islam.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#V">V</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Aden and an Inland Journey</span></td> -<td class="tdr">53</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">The gateways to Arabia Felix—Aden—Its ancient history—Fortifications—Tanks—Divisions—Population—Journey</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh">inland—Wahat—The</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh">vegetation of Yemen—A Turkish custom-house—The</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh">storm in the wady—Taiz—The story of the books. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>8</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh">VI</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Yemen: the Switzerland of Arabia</span></td> -<td class="tdr">62</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">The Jews of Yemen—From Taiz to Ibb and Yerim—Beauty</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh">of scenery—Climate—Ali’s footprint—Damar—Sana—Commerce</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh">and manufactures—Roda—From Sana to the coast—The</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh">terraces of Yemen—Suk-el Khamis—Menakha—Bajil—Hodeidah.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#VII">VII</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Unexplored Regions of Hadramaut</span></td> -<td class="tdr">72</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Von Wrede’s travels—Halévy—Mr. and Mrs. Bent’s journeys—Makalla—Incense-trade—The</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh">castles and palaces—Shibam—Shehr</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh">and its ruler—Hadramaut and the Indian archipelago.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#VIII">VIII</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Muscat and the Coastlands of Oman</span></td> -<td class="tdr">78</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Boundaries—Population—Government—Muscat—Heat—The -forts—The town—The gardens—Trade—The coast of Oman—The -pirate-coast—The Batina—Sib, Barka, Sohar—From -Muscat to Ras-el-Had—Sur—Carter’s exploration—The Mahrah -and Gharah tribes—Frankincense.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#IX">IX</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Land of the Camel</span></td> -<td class="tdr">88</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">“The mother of the camel”—Importance of the camel to Arabia—Tradition -as to creation—Species—The dromedary—An illustration -of design—Products of the camel—Characteristics—The -interior of Oman—Chief authorities—Fertility—Caravan-routes—Peter -Zwemer’s journey—Jebel Achdar.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#X">X</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Pearl Islands of the Gulf</span></td> -<td class="tdr">97</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Ancient history of Bahrein—Origin of name—Population—Menamah—The -fresh-water springs—The pearl-fisheries—Superstitions -about pearls—Value and export—Method of diving—Boats—Apparatus—Dangers -to the divers—Mother-of-pearl—Other -manufactures—Ruins at Ali—The climate—Political -history—English protection. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>9</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XI">XI</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Eastern Threshold of Arabia</span></td> -<td class="tdr">110</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">The province of Hassa—Katar—The Route inland—Ojeir—Journey -to Hofhoof—The two curses of agriculture—The -capital of Hassa—Plan of the town—Its manufactures—Curious -coinage—The government of Hassa—Katif—Its unhealthfulness.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XII">XII</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The River-Country and the Date-Palm</span></td> -<td class="tdr">119</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">The cradle of the race—Boundaries of Mesopotamia—The -Tigris-Euphrates—Meadow lands—The palms—Their beauty—Fruitfulness—Usefulness—Varieties -of dates—Value—Other -products—Population—Provinces and districts—The -government.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XIII">XIII</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Cities and Villages of Turkish-Arabia</span></td> -<td class="tdr">128</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Kuweit—Fao—Aboo Hassib—Busrah—The river navigation—A -journey—Kurna—Ezra’s tomb—Amara—The tomb of the -barber—The arch of Ctesiphon—Bagdad, past and present—Population—Trade—Kelleks.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XIV">XIV</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">A Journey Down the Euphrates</span></td> -<td class="tdr">136</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Journey to Hillah—-The route—Kerbela—Down the Euphrates—Diwaniyeh—The -soldier-guard—Amphibious Arabs—Samawa—Ya -Ali, Ya Hassan!—Nasariya—Ur—The end of our -journey—The future of Mesopotamia.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XV">XV</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Interior—Known and Unknown</span></td> -<td class="tdr">143</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">What it includes—Its four divisions—(1) “The empty quarter”—Ignorance -of this part of Arabia—(2) Nejran—The Dauasir-valley -and other wadys—Halévy’s travels—Aflaj—The Roman -expedition to Nejran—(3) Nejd—Its proper limits—The -zephyrs of Nejd—Soil—Vegetation—Animals—The ostrich—The -horse—The chief authorities on this part of Arabia—The -population of Nejd—The character of government—Intercourse -with Mesopotamia—Chief cities—Hail—Riad—(4)Jebel Shammar—The Bedouin-tribes—Division—Character -and customs—Robbery—Universal poverty. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>10</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XVI">XVI</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">“The Time of Ignorance”</span></td> -<td class="tdr">158</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Why so-called—The golden age of literature—The influence of -Christianity and Judaism—Tribal constitution of society—Commerce—Incense—Foreign -invasions—Political commotion—The -condition of women—Female infanticide—The veil—Rights -of women—Marriage choice—Polygamy and Polyandry—Two -kinds of marriage—Did Islam elevate woman?—Writing -in “the days of ignorance”—Poetry—Mohammed’s -opinion of poets—The religions—Sabeanism—The Pantheon -at Mecca—Jinn—Totemism—Tattooing—Names of idols—Allah—Decay -of idolatry—The Hanifs.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XVII">XVII</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Islam in its Cradle—The Moslem’s God</span></td> -<td class="tdr">169</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Different views—Carlyle—Hugh Broughton—Borrowed elements -of Islam—The God of Islam—Palgrave’s portrait—Attributes -of God—What God is not—Analysis of Islam—Borrowed -elements of Islam.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XVIII">XVIII</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Prophet and his Book</span></td> -<td class="tdr">179</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">The prophet of Islam—Birth of Mohammed—His environment—Factors -that helped to make the man—Political, religious and -family factor—Khadijah—Mohammed’s appearance, mind and -character—His transgression of law—His sensuality—His -murders—Expeditions—Mohammed, as he became through -tradition—His glories, favor and power as an intercessor—How -Moslems regard the Koran—Its character according to -Dr. Post, Goethe and Nöldeke—Its names—Contents—Origin—Recension—Its -beauties—Its defects—Its omissions.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XIX">XIX</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Wahabi Rulers and Reformers</span></td> -<td class="tdr">191</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">The story of past century—The Wahabis—Character of teaching—The -preacher and the sword—Taking of Mecca and Medina—Kerbela—Mohammed -Ali—The Hejaz campaign—Ghalye—Turkish -cruelty—English expedition—Peace—The -Wahabi dynasty—Abdullah bin Rashid—Rise of Nejd kingdom—Character -of rule—Hail conquers Riad. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>11</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh">XX</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Rulers of Oman</span></td> -<td class="tdr">202</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Oman rulers—Seyid Said—Feysul bin Turki—The rebels take -Muscat—Arab warfare—European diplomacy.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XXI">XXI</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Story of the Turks in Arabia</span></td> -<td class="tdr">206</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Hejaz—The Sherifs of Mecca—Othman Pasha—Threats to -assassinate him—Turkish troops in Asir—Losses—The conquest -of Yemen—Turkish rule—Rebellions—The rebellion of -1892—Bagdad, Busrah and Hassa—Taxes—The Turks and -Bedouins—The army—Character of rule.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XXII">XXII</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">British Influence in Arabia</span></td> -<td class="tdr">218</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">British possessions—Aden—Socotra—Perim—Kuria Muria islands—Bahrein—Her -naval supremacy—In the Gulf—German -testimony—Survey of coasts—Telegraph and posts—Slave-trade—Commerce—British -India S. N. Co.—Gulf trade—The -rupee—Trade of Aden—Overland railway—Treaties with -tribes—The Trucial League—England in Oman—Aden—Makalla—Method -of “protection”—British consuls and -agents.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XXIII">XXIII</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Present Politics in Arabia</span></td> -<td class="tdr">233</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Hejaz—Future of Yemen—France in Oman—Russia in the Gulf—The -Tigris-Euphrates Valley—The greater kingdom—God’s -providence in history.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XXIV">XXIV</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Arabic Language</span></td> -<td class="tdr">238</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Wide extent—Its character—Renan’s opinion—The Semitic -family—Their original home—The two theories—Table of the -group—The influence of the Koran on the Arabic language—Koran -Arabic not pure—Origin of alphabet—Cufic—Caligraphy -as an art—Difficulty and beauty of Arabic speech—Its -purity—Literature—Difficulty of pronunciation—Of its grammar—Keith -Falconer’s testimony. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>12</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdh">XXV</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Literature of the Arabs</span></td> -<td class="tdr">251</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Division of its literature—The seven poems—The Koran—Al -Hariri—Its beauty and variety—Arabic poetry in general—Influence -of Arabic and other languages—English influence -on the Arabic—The Arabic Bible and a Christian literature.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XXVI">XXVI</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Arab</span></td> -<td class="tdr">258</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Origin of tribes—Two theories—Yemenite and Maädite—The -caravan routes—Bedouins and townsmen—Clark’s classification—Genealogies—Tribal -names—Character of Arabs—Influence -of neighbors—Their physique—Their aristocracy—Intolerance—Speech—Oaths—Robbery—Privilege -of sanctuary—Generosity—Blood-revenge—Childhood—Fireside -talk—Marriage -among Bedouins—Position of women—Four witnesses—Doughty—Burckhardt—Lady -Ann Blunt—Hurgronje—Woman -despised—The kinds of dwelling—Tents and houses—Dress—The -staple foods—Coffee, tobacco and locusts.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XXVII">XXVII</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Arabian Arts and Sciences</span></td> -<td class="tdr">274</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Music of the Arabs—War chants—Instruments of music—Songs—Kaseedahs -in Yemen—Mecca chants—Science of <i>Athar</i> and -<i>Wasm</i>—Tracking camels—Tribal marks—Medical knowledge -of the Arabs—Diseases—Remedies—A prescription—The -Koran’s panacea—A Mecca M. D.—Amulets—Superstitions.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XXVIII">XXVIII</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Star-Worshippers of Mesopotamia</span></td> -<td class="tdr">285</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Where they live—Their peculiar religion—Their language—Literature—A -prayer-meeting of the Star Worshippers—Strange -ceremonies—The dogmas—Gnostic ideas—Priesthood—Baptisms—Babylonian -origin.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XXIX">XXIX</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Early Christianity in Arabia</span></td> -<td class="tdr">300</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Pentecost—Paul’s journey—The Arabs and the Romans—Christian -tribes of the North—Mavia—Naaman’s edict—Christianity -in Yemen—Character of Oriental Christianity—The -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>13</span> -Collyridians—Theophilus—Nejran converts—Martyrs—Abraha, -king of Yemen—Marching to Mecca—The defeat—End -of early Christianity—The record of the rocks.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XXX">XXX</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Dawn of Modern Arabian Missions</span></td> -<td class="tdr">314</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Raymond Lull—Henry Martyn—Why the Moslem world was -neglected—Claudius Buchanan’s sermon—The Syrian missions—Doctor -Van Dyck—His Bible translation—Henry -Martyn, the pioneer—His Arabian assistant—Visit to Muscat—His -Arabic version—Anthony N. Groves—Dr. John Wilson of -Bombay—The Bible Society—Opening of doors—Major-General -Haig’s journeys—Arabia open—Dr. and Mrs. Harpur and -the C. M. S.—A call to prayer—Bagdad occupied—The present -work—Missionary journeys to the Jews—William Lethaby -at Kerak—The North Africa mission among the nomads—Samuel -Van Tassel—The Christian Missionary Alliance—Mackay’s -appeal from Uganda—The response.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XXXI">XXXI</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Ion Keith Falconer and the Aden Mission</span></td> -<td class="tdr">331</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Keith Falconer’s character—Education—At Cambridge—Mission -work—His “eccentricity”—Leipzig and Assiut—How he -came to go to Arabia—His first visit—Plans for the interior—His -second voyage to Aden—Dwelling—Illness—Death—The -influence of his life—The mission at Sheikh Othman.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XXXII">XXXII</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Bishop French the Veteran Missionary to Muscat</span></td> -<td class="tdr">344</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdl">“The most distinguished of all C. M. S. missionaries”—Responds -to Mackay’s appeal—His character—His letters from -Muscat—His plans for the interior—Death—The grave.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XXXIII">XXXIII</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The American Arabian Mission</span></td> -<td class="tdr">353</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Its origin—The student band—The first plan—Laid before the -church—Organization—The Missionary Hymn—James Cantine—Syria—Cairo—Aden—Kamil—Journeys -of exploration -to the Gulf and Sana—Busrah—Dr. C. E. Riggs—Death of -Kamil—Opposition from government—Home administration—Bahrein -occupied—Lines of work—Muscat—Journey through -Yemen—The mission transferred to the Reformed Church—Troubles -at Muscat and Busrah—Dr. Worrall—Journeys in -Oman—Scripture-sales—First-fruits—Reinforcements. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>14</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XXXIV">XXXIV</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">In Memoriam</span></td> -<td class="tdr">367</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Peter John Zwemer—George E. Stone.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XXXV">XXXV</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Problems of the Arabian Field</span></td> -<td class="tdr">374</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">The general problem of missions to Moslems—The Arabian -problem—What part of Arabia is accessible—Turkish Arabia—Its -accessibility—Limitations—The accessibility of independent -Arabia—Climate—Moslem fanaticism—English influence—Illiteracy—The -Bedouins—The present missionary -force—Its utter inadequacy—Methods of work—Medical -missions—Schools—Work for women—Colportage—Preaching—Controversy—What -should be its character—The attitude -of the Moslem mind—Fate of converts—Thoughtless and -thoughtful Moslems—The Bible as dynamite—The right men -for the work.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdcsp"><a href="#XXXVI">XXXVI</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Outlook for Missions to Moslems</span></td> -<td class="tdr">391</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="tdh">Two views of work for Moslems—Christian fatalism—Results in -Moslem lands—India—Persia—Constantinople—Sumatra and -Java—Other signs of progress—The significance of persecution—Character -of converts—Promise of God for victory over -Islam—Christ or Mohammed—Missionary promises of the -Old Testament—The Rock of Jesus’ Sonship—Special promises -for Arabia—Hagar and Ishmael—The prayer of Abraham—The -sign of the covenant with Ishmael—The third revelation -of God’s love—The sons of Ishmael—Kedar and Nebaioth—The -promises—Seba and Sheba—The spiritual boundaries of -Arabia—Da Costa’s poem—Faith like Abraham—O that Ishmael -might live before thee.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#Appendix_I">APPENDIX I</a>—<span class="smcap">Chronological Table</span></td> -<td class="tdr">409</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#Appendix_II">APPENDIX II</a>—<span class="smcap">Tribes of North Arabia</span></td> -<td class="tdr">413</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#Appendix_III">APPENDIX III</a>—<span class="smcap">Kaat and Coffee Culture in Arabia</span></td> -<td class="tdr">414</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#Appendix_IV">APPENDIX IV</a>—<span class="smcap">An Arabian Bibliography</span></td> -<td class="tdr">416</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#Index">INDEX</a></td> -<td class="tdr">427</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>15</span></p> - - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="List_of_Illustrations">List of Illustrations</h2> -</div> - - -<table class="small" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"></td> -<td class="tdr">PAGE</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#A_TYPICAL_ARAB_OF_YEMEN"><span class="smcap">A Typical Arab of Yemen</span></a></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>Frontispiece</i></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#VIEW_OF_MECCA_AND_THE_SACRED_MOSQUE"><span class="smcap">View of Mecca and the Sacred Mosque</span></a></td> -<td class="tdr"> <i>Facing</i> 17</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_REPUTED_TOMB_OF_EVE_AT_JIDDAH"><span class="smcap">The Reputed Tomb -of Eve at Jiddah</span></a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#MOHAMMEDAN_PILGRIMS_AT_MECCA"><span class="smcap">Mohammedan Pilgrims -at Mecca</span></a></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>Facing</i> 30</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_SACRED_WELL_OF_ZEMZEM_AT_MECCA"><span class="smcap">The Sacred Well -of Zemzem at Mecca</span></a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#PILGRIMS_AROUND_THE_KAABA_IN_THE_SACRED_MOSQUE_AT_MECCA"><span class="smcap">Pilgrims -around the Kaaba in the Sacred Mosque at Mecca</span></a></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>Facing</i> 34</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_MECCA_CERTIFICATE"><span class="smcap">The Mecca Certificate—A -Passport to Heaven</span></a></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>Facing</i> 40</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#A_CHRISTIAN_COIN_USED_AS_AN_AMULET_BY_MECCAN_WOMEN"><span class="smcap">Christian -Coins used as an Amulet by Meccan Women</span></a></td> -<td class="tdr">43</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#A_WOMAN_OF_MECCA"><span class="smcap">A Woman of Mecca</span></a></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>Facing</i> 44</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><a href="#A_MECCAN_WOMAN_IN_HER_BRIDAL_COSTUME"><span class="smcap">A Meccan Woman in -her Bridal Costume</span></a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#TRAVELLING_IN_SOUTHERN_ARABIA">Travelling in Southern Arabia</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>Facing</i> 56</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#THE_KEITH_FALCONER_MEMORIAL_CHURCH_IN_ADEN">The Keith Falconer Memorial Church in Aden</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#AN_ARABIAN_COMPASS">An Arabian Compass</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr">71</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#A_CASTLE_IN_HADRAMAUT"> A Castle in Hadramaut</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr">77</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#THE_HARBOR_AND_CASTLE_AT_MUSCAT">The Harbor and Castle at Muscat</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>Facing</i> 80</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#READY_FOR_A_CAMEL_RIDE_IN_THE_DESERT">Ready for a Camel Ride in the Desert</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#A_BRANCH_OF_THE_INCENSE_TREE">A Branch of the Incense Tree</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr">87</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#TENOOF_FROM_THE_EAST">Tenoof from the East</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr">95</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#THE_VILLAGE_OF_MENAMAH">The Village of Menamah, Bahrein Islands</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>Facing</i> 100</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#A_BAHREIN_HARBOR_BOAT">A Bahrein Harbor Boat</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#A_DATE_ORCHARD_NEAR_BUSRAH">A Date Orchard near Busrah</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>Facing</i> 122</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#DATES_GROWING_ON_A_DATE-PALM">Dates Growing on a Date-Palm</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#THE_REPUTED_TOMB_OF_EZRA_ON_THE_TIGRIS_RIVER">The Tomb of Ezra on the Tigris River</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>Facing</i> 132</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#RUINS_OF_THE_ARCH_OF_CTESIPHON_NEAR_BAGDAD">Ruins of the Arch of Ctesiphon Near Bagdad</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#A_PUBLIC_KHAN_IN_TURKISH-ARABIA">A Public Khan in Turkish-Arabia</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>Facing</i> 140</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#ARAB_PILGRIMS_ON_BOARD_A_RIVER_STEAMER">Arab Pilgrims on Board a River Steamer</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#The_Four_Flags_of_Arabia">Four Flags that Rule Arabia</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr">217</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#CUFIC_CHARACTERS">Cufic Characters</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr">243</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#MODERN_COPYBOOK_STYLE_OF_ARABIC">Modern Copybook Arabic</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>Facing</i> 244</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Ordinary Unvowelled Arabic Writing</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#MOGREBI_ARABIC_OF_NORTH_AFRICA">Mogrebi Arabic of North Arabia</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr">245<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>16</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#PERSIAN_STYLE_EXTENSIVELY_USED_IN_EASTERN_ARABIA">Persian Style of Writing</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr">246</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#TITLE_PAGE_OF_A_CHRISTIAN_PAPER">Title Page of an Arabic Christian Paper</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr">257</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#CHURNING_BUTTER_IN_A_BEDOUIN_CAMP">Churning Butter in a Bedouin Camp</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>Facing</i> 266</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#TRIBAL_MARKS">Tribal Marks of the Arabs</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr">279</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#Mandaitic_Cursive-Script">Manaitic Cursive Script</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr">287</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#Sacred_Book_of_the_Mandaeans">Passage From the Sacred Book of the Mandæans</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr">299</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#THE_ARABIAN_MISSIONARY_HYMN">Facsimile Copy of the Arabian Missionary Hymn</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr">358</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#THE_OLD_MISSION_HOUSE_AT_BUSRAH">The Old Mission House at Busrah</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>Facing</i> 360</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#THE_KITCHEN_OF_THE_OLD_MISSION_HOUSE">The Kitchen of the Old Mission House, Busrah</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#FOUR_MISSIONARY_MARTYRS_OF_ARABIA">Four Missionary Martyrs of Arabia</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>Facing</i> 368</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#THE_BIBLE_SHOP_AT_BUSRAH">The Bible Shop at Busrah</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>Facing</i> 384</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#INTERIOR_OF_A_NATIVE_SHOP">Interior of a Native Shop</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#THE_RESCUED_SLAVE_BOYS_AT_MUSCAT">The Rescued Slave Boys at Muscat</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>Facing</i> 400</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#THE_ARABIAN_MISSION_HOUSE_AT_MUSCAT">The Arabian Mission House at Muscat</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"><hr class="tb" /></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">Maps and Diagrams</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#PTOLEMAEUS_KARTE_VON_ARABIA_FELI">Ptolemy’s Ancient Map of Arabia</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>Facing</i> 25</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#ALI_BEYS_PLAN">Ali Bey’s Plan of the Prophet’s Mosque at Mecca</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>Facing</i> 36</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#REPORTED_ARRANGEMENT_OF_THE_INTERIOR_OF_THE_HUJRAH">Plan of the Interior of the Hujrah at Medina</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr">49</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#MAP_OF_THE_ISLANDS_OF_BAHREIN">Map of the Islands of Bahrein</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr">98</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#NEIBUHRS_MAP_OF_THE_PERSIAN_GULF">Neibuhr’s Map of the Persian Gulf</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>Facing</i> 110</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#PALGRAVES_PLAN_OF_HOFHOOF">Palgrave’s Plan of Hofhoof</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr">113</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#Population_Touched_by_Mission_Effort">Diagrams of Missionary Work for Arabia</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr">380, 381</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap"><a href="#Arabia">Modern Map of Arabia</a></span></td> -<td class="tdr"><i>End of Book.</i></td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p><a id="VIEW_OF_MECCA_AND_THE_SACRED_MOSQUE"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-017a" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-017a.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">VIEW OF MECCA AND THE SACRED MOSQUE</div> -</div> - - -<p><a id="THE_REPUTED_TOMB_OF_EVE_AT_JIDDAH"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-017b" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-017b.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">THE REPUTED TOMB OF EVE AT JIDDAH</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>17</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="I">I<br /> - -<small>THE NEGLECTED PENINSULA</small></h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Intersected by sandy deserts and vast ranges of mountains it presents -on one side nothing but desolation in its most frightful form, while the -other is adorned with all the beauties of the most fertile regions. Such is -its position that it enjoys at once all the advantages of hot and of temperate -climates. The peculiar productions of regions the most distant from one -another are produced here in equal perfection. What Greek and Latin -authors mention concerning Arabia proves by its obscurity their ignorance -of almost everything respecting the Arabs. Prejudices relative to the inconveniences -and dangers of travelling in Arabia have hitherto kept the -moderns in equal ignorance.”—<i>M. Niebuhr</i> (1792).</p></div> - - -<p>What Jerusalem and Palestine are to Christendom this, -and vastly more, Mecca and Arabia are to the Mohammedan -world. Not only is this land the cradle of their religion -and the birthplace of their prophet, the shrine toward which, -for centuries, prayers and pilgrimage have gravitated; but -Arabia is also, according to universal Moslem tradition, the -original home of Adam after the fall and the home of all the -older patriarchs. The story runs that when the primal pair -fell from their estate of bliss in the heavenly paradise, Adam -landed on a mountain in Ceylon and Eve fell at Jiddah, on the -western coast of Arabia. After a hundred years of wandering -they met near Mecca, and here Allah constructed for them a -tabernacle, on the site of the present Kaaba. He put in its -foundation the famous stone once whiter than snow, but since -turned black by the sins of pilgrims! In proof of these statements -travellers are shown the Black stone at Mecca and the -tomb of Eve near Jiddah. Another accepted tradition says that -Mecca stands on a spot exactly beneath God’s throne in heaven.</p> - -<p>Without reference to these wild traditions, which are soberly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>18</span> -set down as facts by Moslem historians, Arabia is a land of -perpetual interest to the geographer, and the historian.</p> - -<p>Since Niebuhr’s day many intrepid travellers have surveyed -the coasts and penetrated into the interior, but his charge that -we are ignorant of the real character of the vast peninsula is -still true as far as it relates to the southern and southeastern -districts. No traveller has yet crossed the northern boundary -of Hadramaut and explored the Dahna desert, also called the -Roba-el-Khali, or “empty abode.” The vast territory between -the peninsula of Katar and the mountains of Oman is also -practically a blank on the best maps. Indeed the only noteworthy -map of that portion of the peninsula is that of Ptolemy -reproduced by Sprenger in his “Alte Geographie Arabiens.”</p> - -<p>Arabia has well-defined boundaries everywhere except on the -north. Eastward are the waters of the Persian Gulf, the Strait -of Ormuz and the Gulf of Oman. The entire southern coast is -washed by the Indian Ocean which reaches to Bab-el-Mandeb -“The Gate-of-tears,” from which point the Red Sea and the -Gulf of Akaba form the western boundary. The undefined -northern desert, in some places a sea of sand, completes the -isolation which has led the Arabs themselves to call the -peninsula their “Island” (Jezirat-el-Arab). In fact the northern -boundary will probably never be defined accurately. The -so-called “Syrian desert,” reaching to about the thirty-fifth -parallel might better be regarded as the Arabian desert, for in -physical and ethnical features it bears much greater resemblance -to the southern peninsula than to the surrounding regions of -Syria and Mesopotamia. Bagdad is properly an Arabian city -and to the Arabs of the north is as much a part of the peninsula -as is Aden to those of the southwest. The true, though shifting, -northern boundary of Arabia would be the limit of Nomad -encampments, but for convenience and practical purposes a -boundary line may be drawn from the Mediterranean along the -thirty-third parallel to Busrah.</p> - -<p>Thus the shores of Arabia stretch from Suez to the Euphrates<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>19</span> -delta for a total length of nearly 4,000 miles. This coast-line -has comparatively few islands or inlets, except in the -Persian Gulf. The Red Sea coast is fringed by extensive coral -reefs, dangerous to navigation, but from Aden to Muscat the -coast is elevated and rocky, and contains several good harbors. -Eastern Arabia has a low, flat coast-line made of coral-rock -with here and there volcanic headlands. Farsan, off the -Tehamah coast, famous as the centre for Arab slave-dhows; -Perim, where English batteries command the gate of the Red -Sea; the Kuria-Muria group in the Indian Ocean; and the -Bahrein archipelago in the Persian Gulf, are the only important -islands. Socotra, although occupied by an Arab population -and historically Arabian, is by geographers generally attached -to Africa. This island is however under the Indian -government, and, once Christian, is now wholly Mohammedan.</p> - -<p>The greatest length of the peninsula is about 1,000 miles, -its average breadth 600, and its area somewhat over 1,000,000 -square miles. It is thus over four times the size of France or -larger than the United States east of the Mississippi River.</p> - -<p>Arabia, until quite recently, has generally been regarded as -a vast expanse of sandy desert. Recent explorations have -proved this idea quite incorrect, and a large part of the region -still considered desert is as yet unexplored. Palgrave, in his -“Central Arabia” gives an excellent summary of the physical -characteristics of the whole peninsula as he saw it. Since his -time Hadramaut has been partially explored and the result confirms -his statements: “The general type of Arabia is that of -a central table-land surrounded by a desert ring sandy to the -south, west and east, stony to the north. This outlying circle -is in its turn girt by a line of mountains low and sterile for the -most, but attaining in Yemen and Oman considerable height, -breadth and fertility; while beyond these a narrow rim of -coast is bordered by the sea. The surface of the midmost -table-land equals somewhat less than one-half of the entire -peninsula; and its special demarkations are much affected,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>20</span> -nay often absolutely fixed, by the windings and inrunnings of the -Nefud (sandy desert). If to these central highlands or <i>Nejd</i>, -taking that word in its wider sense, we add whatever spots of -fertility belong to the outer circles, we shall find that Arabia -contains about two-thirds of cultivated or at least of cultivatable -land, with a remaining third of irreclaimable desert, chiefly -on the south.”</p> - -<p>From this description it is evident that the least attractive -part of the country is the coast. This may be the reason that -Arabia has been so harshly judged, as to climate and soil and -so much neglected by those who only knew of it from the captains -who had touched its coast in the Red Sea and the Persian -Gulf. Nothing is more surprising, than to pass through -the barren cinder gateway of Aden up the mountain passes -into the marvellous fertility and delightful climate of Yemen. -Arabia like the Arab, has a rough, frowning exterior but a -warm, hospitable heart.</p> - -<p>From the table-land of Nejd, which has an average elevation -of about 3,000 feet above the sea, there is a gradual ascent -southward to the highlands of Yemen and Oman where there -are mountain peaks as high as 8,000 and 10,000 feet. This -diversity of surface causes an equal diversity of climate. The -prevailing conditions are intense heat and dryness, and the -world-zone of maximum heat in July embraces nearly the entire -peninsula. On the coast the heat is more trying because -of the moisture from the enormous evaporation of the land-locked -basins. During part of the summer there is scarcely -any difference in the register of the wet and dry-bulb thermometer. -In the months of June, July and August, 1897, the -averages of maximum temperature at Busrah were 100°, 103-1/2° -and 102° F.; and the minimum 84°, 86-1/2° and 84° F. Nejd -has a salubrious climate, while in Yemen and Oman on the -highlands the mercury even in July seldom rises above 85°. -In July, 1892, I passed in one day’s journey from a shade temperature -of 110° F. on the coast at Hodeidah to one of 55° at<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>21</span> -Menakha on the mountains. At Sanaa there is frost for three -months in the year, and Jebel Tobeyk in northwest Arabia is -covered with snow all winter. In fact, all northern Arabia -has a winter season with cold rains and occasional frosts.</p> - -<p>The geology of the peninsula is of true Arabian simplicity. -According to Doughty it consists of a foundation stock of plutonic -(igneous) rock whereon lie sandstone, and above that -limestone. Going from Moab to Sinai we cross the strata in -the reverse order, while in the depression of the gulf of Akaba -the three strata are in regular order although again overtopped -by the granite of the mountains. Fossils are very rare, but -coral formation is common all along the coast. Volcanic formations -and lava (called by the Arabs, harrat) crop out frequently, -as in the region of Medina and Khaibar. In going -by direct route from the Red Sea (Jiddah) to Busrah, we meet -first granite and trap-rock, overtopped in the Harrat el-Kisshub -by lavas, and further on at Wady Gerir and Jebel Shear by -basalts; at the Nefud el Kasim (Boreyda) sandstones begin -until we reach the limestone region of Jebel Toweyk. Thence -all is gravel and sand to the Euphrates.</p> - -<p>Arabia has no rivers and none of its mountain streams (some -of which are perennial) reach the seacoast. At least they do -not arrive there by the <i>overland</i> route, for it is a well-established -fact that the many fresh water springs found in the -Bahrein archipelago have their origin in the uplands of Arabia. -At Muscat, too, water is always flowing toward the sea in -abundance at the depth of ten to thirty feet below the wady-bed; -this supplies excellent well-water. In fact the entire -region of Hasa is full of underground watercourses and perennial -springs. Coast-streams are frequent in Yemen during -the rain-season and often become suddenly full to overflowing -dashing everything before them. They are called <i>sayl</i>, and -well illustrate Christ’s parable of the flood which demolished -the house built upon the sand.</p> - -<p>The great wadys of Arabia are its characteristic feature,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>22</span> -celebrated since the days of Job, the Arab. These wadys, -often full to the brim in winter and black by reason of frost -but entirely dried up during the heat of summer, would never -be suspected of giving nourishment to even a blade of grass. -They are generally dry for nine and ten months in the year, -during which time water is obtained from wells sunk in the -wady-bed. Wady Sirhan runs in a southeasterly direction -from the Hauran highlands to the Jauf district on the edge of -the great Nefud; it is fed by the smaller Wady er-Rajel. -Wady Dauasir which receives the Nejran streams drains all -of the Asir and southern Hejaz highlands northward to Bahr -Salumeh, a small lake, the only one known in the whole peninsula. -The Aftan is another important wady running from -the borders of Nejd into the Persian Gulf. This wady-bed is -marked on some maps as a river, flowing into the Persian Gulf -apparently by two mouths. It does not exist to-day. The -most important water-bed in Arabia is the celebrated Wady er-Ruma, -only partly explored, which flows from Hejaz across -the peninsula for nearly 800 miles in a northwesterly direction -toward the Euphrates. Were there a more abundant rainfall -this wady would reach the Shat-el-Arab and give unity to the -now disjointed water-system of Mesopotamia and north Arabia.<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> -For obvious reasons the caravan routes of Arabia -generally follow the course of the wadys.</p> - -<p>Arabia is also a land of mountains and highlands. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>23</span> -most clearly developed system is the extensive range skirting -the Red Sea at a distance of from one to three days’ journey -from the coast. South of Mecca there are peaks of over 8,000 -feet; and beyond, the range broadens out to form the Yemen -highlands, a corner of the peninsula worthy of its old name -“Arabia Felix.” The mountains along the south coast are -more irregular and disconnected until they broaden out a second -time between Ras el Had and Ras Mussendum to form the -highlands of Oman. Along the gulf coast there are no mountains -except an occasional volcanic hill like Jebel Dokhan in -Bahrein and Jebel Sanam near Zobeir.</p> - -<p>The Nejd is crossed by several ridges of which the best -known is Jebel Shammar running nearly east and west at an -altitude of about 6,000 feet. Jebel Menakib, Jebel Aared, -Jebel Toweyk and Jebel Athal are other ranges south of Jebel -Shammar and also running in a similar direction toward the -southwest and northeast. The Sinai peninsula is a rocky limestone -plateau intersected by rugged gorges and highest toward -the south in the region of Sinai proper.</p> - -<p>Next to its wadys and mountains Arabia is characterized -chiefly by the so-called <i>Harrat</i> or volcanic tracks already -mentioned. These black, gloomy, barren regions occupy a -much wider extent of north Arabia than is generally supposed. -The largest is <i>Harrat Khaibar</i>, north of Medina, the old centre -of the Jews in the days of Mohammed. It is over 100 -miles in length and in some parts thirty miles wide. A wilderness -of lava and lava-stones with many extinct crater heads, -craggy, and strewn with rough blocks of basalt and other igneous -rocks. In some places the lava beds are 600 feet deep. -Signs of volcanic action are still seen at Khaibar, smoke issuing -from crevices and steam from the summit of Jebel Ethnan. -A volcanic eruption was seen at Medina as late as 1256 <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span><a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> -and the hot and sulphur springs of Hasa and Hadramaut seem -to indicate present volcanic action.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>24</span></p> - -<p>The sandy-tracts of the so-called Arabian deserts are termed -by the Arabs themselves <i>nefud</i> (drained, exhausted, spent), -the name given on most maps. The general physical features -of this “desert” are those of a plain clothed with stunted, -aromatic shrubs of many varieties, but their value as pasture is -very unequal, some being excellent for camels and sheep, others -absolutely worthless. Some nefuds abound in grasses and -flowering plants after the early rains, and then the desert -“blossoms like the rose.” Others are without rain and -barren all year; they are covered with long stretches of drift-sand, -carried about by the wind and tossed in billows on the -weather side of the rocks and bushes.<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> Palgrave asserts that -some of the nefud sands are 600 feet deep. They prevail in -the vast unexplored region south of Nejd and north of Hadramaut -including the so-called “Great Arabian Desert.” Absolute -sterility is the dominant feature here, whereas the northern -nefuds are the pasture lands for thousands of horses and sheep.</p> - -<p><a id="PTOLEMAEUS_KARTE_VON_ARABIA_FELI"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp91" id="illus-025" style="max-width: 93.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-025.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">PTOLEMAEUS KARTE VON ARABIA FELI</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>25</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="II">II<br /> - -<small>THE GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS OF ARABIA</small></h2></div> - - -<p>The division of Arabia into provinces has always been -rather according to physical geography than political -boundaries. The earliest division of the peninsula, and in -some respects the most correct, was that of the Greek and Roman -writers into <i>Arabia Deserta</i> and <i>Arabia Felix</i>. The latter -epithet was perhaps only a mistaken translation of <i>El-Yemen</i>—the -land on “the right hand,” that is south of Mecca, for -the Orientals face east. This is contrasted with Syria which -in Arabic is called “<i>Es-Sham</i>” or the land “to the left” of -Mecca. The third division, <i>Arabia Petræa</i>, or “Stony Arabia,” -first appears in Ptolemy and is applied to the Sinai district. -He limits Arabia Deserta to the extreme northern desert -and so his map of the entire peninsula bears the title of Arabia -Felix. The great geographer anticipated all modern maps of -Arabia by naming the regions according to the tribes that inhabit -them; a much more intelligent method than the drawing -of artificial lines around natural features and dubbing them -with a name to suit the cartographer.</p> - -<p>The Arab geographers know nothing of this threefold division -into sandy, stony, and happy-land. They divide the -Island-of-the-Arabs (Jezirat-el-Arab) into five provinces.<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> The -first is called <i>El-Yemen</i> and includes Hadramaut, Mehrah, -Oman, Shehr, and Nejran. The second <i>El-Hejaz</i>, on the -west coast, so called because it is the barrier between Tehama -and Nejd; it nearly corresponds to our Hejaz, excluding its<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>26</span> -southern portion. The third is <i>Tehama</i>, along the coast, -between Yemen and Hejaz. The fourth is <i>Nejd</i>, a term -loosely applied to all the interior table-lands. The fifth is -called <i>Yemama</i> or <i>’Arudh</i> because it extends all the “wide” -way between Yemen (Oman) and Nejd. It is important to -distinguish between this Arabian division and that now nearly -everywhere adopted on the maps of the occident; much confusion -has arisen when this distinction was not made.</p> - -<p>The modern division of the peninsula into seven provinces: -Hejaz, Yemen, Hadramaut, Oman, Hasa, Irak and Nejd, is -according to political geography and serves all practical purposes, -although it is not strictly accurate. Hejaz, the Holyland -of Arabia, includes the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina. -Yemen is bounded by the line of fertility on the north -and east so as to include the important region of Asir. Hadramaut -has no clearly defined boundaries and stretches northward -to the unknown region of the Dahna. Oman is the -peninsula between the southern shore of the Gulf and the -Indian Ocean, while Hasa covers the entire coast district -north of El-Katar peninsula (on some maps called El-Bahrein). -Irak-Arabi or Irak is the northern river-country politically corresponding -to what is called “Turkish-Arabia.”</p> - -<p>As to the present division of political power in Arabia, it is -sufficient here to note that the Sinai peninsula and 200 miles -of coast south of the Gulf of Akaba is Egyptian; Hejaz, -Yemen and Hasa are nominally Turkish provinces, but their -political boundaries are shifting and uncertain. The present -Shereef of Mecca at times dictates to the Sublime Porte while -the Bedouin tribes even in Hejaz acknowledge neither Sultan -nor Shereef and waylay the pilgrim caravans that come to the -holy cities unless they receive large blackmail. In Yemen the -Arabs have never ceased to fret under the galling yoke of the -Turk since it was put on their shoulders by the capture of -Sana in 1873. The insurrection in 1892 was nearly a revolution -and again this year (1899) all Yemen is in arms. It is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>27</span> -very suggestive that in the present revolt some of the Arabs -made use of the English flag to secure sympathy.</p> - -<p>In Hasa, the real sovereignty of Turkey only exists in three -or four towns while all the Bedouin and many of the villagers -yield to the Dowla, neither tribute, obedience nor love. Irak -alone is actually Turkish and yields large revenue. But even -here Arab-uprisings are frequent. Nominally, however, Turkey -holds the fairest province on the south, the religious -centres on the west and the fertile northeast of Arabia,—one-fifth -of the total area of the peninsula.</p> - -<p>The remainder of Arabia is independent of Turkey. Petty -rulers calling themselves Sultans, Ameers or Imams have for -centuries divided the land between them. The Sultanate of -Oman and the great Nejd-kingdom are the only important -governments, but the former lost its glory when its seat of -power and influence was transferred to Zanzibar. Nejd in its -widest sense is governed to-day by Abd-el-Aziz bin Mitaab the -nephew of the late Mohammed bin Rashid, King Richard of -Arabia, who gained his throne by the massacre of seventeen -possible pretenders. The territory of this potentate is bordered -southward by Riad and the Wahabi country. Northward -his influence extends beyond the Nefud, right away to -the Oases of Kaf and Ittery in the Wady Sirhan (38° E. -Long., 31° N. Lat.) east of the Dead Sea. The inhabitants of -these oases acknowledge Abd-el-Aziz as their suzerain paying -him a yearly tribute of four pounds ($20.00) for each village. -The people of the intervening district of Jauf also acknowledge -his rule which reaches westward to Teima. He also -commands the new pilgrim-route from the northeast which -formerly passed through Riad but now touches Hail, the capital -of Nejd. The Wahabi movement has collapsed and their -political power is broken, although their influence has extended -to the furthest confines of Arabia.</p> - -<p>The only foreign power dominant in Arabia, beside Turkey, -is England. Aden became a British possession in 1838 and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>28</span> -since then British influence has extended until it now embraces -a district 200 miles long by forty broad and a population of -130,000. The Island of Perim in the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, -the Kuria-Muria Islands on the south coast, and Socotra are -also English. All the independent tribes on the coast from -Aden to Muscat and from Muscat to Bahrein have made exclusive -treaties with Great Britain, are subsidized by annual -payments or presents and are “protected.” Muscat and -Bahrein are in a special sense protected states since England’s -settled policy is to have sole dominion in the Persian Gulf. -She has agencies or consulates everywhere; the postal system -of the Persian Gulf is British; the rupee has driven the piastre -out of the market and as ninety-eight per cent. of the commerce -is in English hands the Persian Gulf may yet become an -English lake.</p> - -<p>Arabia has no railroads, but regular caravan routes take their -place in every direction. Turkish telegraph service exists between -Mecca and Jiddah in Hejaz; between Sanaa, Hodeidah -and Taiz in Yemen; and along the Tigris-Euphrates between -Bagdad and Busrah connecting at Fao (at the delta) with the -submarine cable to Bushire and India.</p> - -<p>Of the fauna and flora of Arabia we will not here speak at -length. The most characteristic plants are the date-palm of -which over 100 varieties are catalogued by the Arab peasantry, -and which yields a staple food. Coffee, aromatic and -medicinal plants, gums and balsams, have for ages supplied -the markets of the world. Yemen is characterized by tropical -luxuriance, and in Nejd is the <i>ghatha</i> tree which grows to a -height of fifteen feet, and yields the purest charcoal in the -world.</p> - -<p>Among the wild animals were formerly the lion and the -panther, but they are now exceedingly rare. The wolf, wild -boar, jackal, gazelle, fox, monkey, wild cow (or white antelope) -ibex, horned viper, cobra, bustard, buzzard and hawk are -also found. The ostrich still exists in southwest Arabia but is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>29</span> -not common The chief domestic animals are the ass, mule, -sheep, goats, but above all and superior to all, the camel and -the horse.</p> - -<p>The exact population of a land where there is no census, and -where women and girls are never counted is of course unknown. -The Ottoman government gives exaggerated estimates for its -Arabian provinces, and travellers have made various guesses. -Some recent authorities, omitting Irak, put the total population -of Arabia as low as 5,000,000. A.H. Keane, F.R.G.S., -gives the following estimate:<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> - - -<table class="small" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><i>Turkish Arabia</i></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr">Hejaz,</td> -<td class="tdr">3,500,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr">Yemen,</td> -<td class="tdr">2,500,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><i>Independent Arabia</i></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr">Oman,</td> -<td class="tdr">1,500,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr" colspan="2">Shammar, Bahrein, etc.,</td> -<td class="tdr">3,500,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr" colspan="2"></td> -<td class="tdr_bt">11,000,000</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>Albrecht Zehm in his book “Arabien seit hundert Jahren,” -arrives at nearly the same result:</p> - - -<table class="small" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Yemen and Asir,</td> -<td class="tdr">2,252,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Hadramaut,</td> -<td class="tdr">1,550,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Oman and Muscat,</td> -<td class="tdr">1,350,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Bahrein Katif, Nejd,</td> -<td class="tdr">2,350,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Hejaz, Anaeze, Kasim, and Jebel Shammar,</td> -<td class="tdr">3,250,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"></td> -<td class="tdr_bt">10,752,000</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>But undoubtedly both of these estimates, following Turkish -authorities, are too high, especially for Hejaz and Yemen. A -conservative estimate would be 8,000,000 for the entire peninsula -in its widest extent. The true number of inhabitants will -remain unknown until further explorations disclose the real -character of southeastern Arabia, and until northern Hadramaut -yields up its secrets. In this, as in other respects, the -words of Livingstone are true: “The end of the geographical -feat is the beginning of the missionary enterprise.”</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>30</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="III">III<br /> - - -<small>THE HOLY LAND OF ARABIA—MECCA</small></h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“The Eastern world moves slowly—<i>eppur si muove</i>. Half a generation -ago steamers were first started to Jiddah: now we hear of a projected railway -from that port to Mecca, the shareholders being all Moslems. And -the example of Jerusalem encourages us to hope that long before the end -of the century a visit to Mecca will not be more difficult than a trip to -Hebron.”—<i>Burton</i> (1855).</p> - -<p>“Our train of camels drew slowly by them: but when the smooth -Mecca merchant heard that the stranger riding with the camel men was a -Nasrany, he cried ‘Akhs! A Nasrany in these parts!’ and with the horrid -inurbanity of their jealous religion he added, ‘Ullah curse his father!’ -and stared on me with a face worthy of the Koran.”—<i>Doughty</i> (1888)</p></div> - -<p>It is a rule laid down in the Koran and confirmed by many -traditions that the sacred territory enclosing the birthplace -and the tomb of the prophet shall not be polluted by the -visits of infidels. “O believers! only those are unclean who -join other gods with God! Let them not therefore after this -their year come near the Sacred Mosque.” (Surah ix. 27.) -Mohammed is reported to have said of Mecca, “What a -splendid city thou art, if I had not been driven out of thee by -my tribe I would dwell in no other place but in thee. It is not -man but God who has made Mecca sacred. My people will be -always safe in this world and the next as long as they respect -Mecca.” (Mishkat book XL., ch. xv.)</p> - -<p>The sacred boundaries of Mecca and Medina not only shut -out all unbelievers, but they make special demands of “purity -and holiness” (in the Moslem sense) on the part of the true -believers. According to tradition it is not lawful to carry -weapons or to fight within the limits of the <i>Haramein</i>. Its</p> - -<p><a id="MOHAMMEDAN_PILGRIMS_AT_MECCA"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp96" id="illus-030a" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-030a.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">MOHAMMEDAN PILGRIMS AT MECCA</div> -</div> - -<p><a id="THE_SACRED_WELL_OF_ZEMZEM_AT_MECCA"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp99" id="illus-030b" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-030b.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">THE SACRED WELL OF ZEMZEM AT MECCA</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>31</span></p> - -<p>grass and thorns must not be cut nor must its game be molested. -Some doctors of law hold that these regulations do not apply to -Medina, but others make the burial-place of the prophet equally -sacred with the place of his birth. The boundaries of this -sacred territory are rather uncertain. Abd ul Hak says that -when, at the time of the rebuilding of the Kaaba, Abraham, the -friend of God, placed the black stone, its east, west, north and -south sides became luminous, and wherever the light extended, -became the boundaries of the sacred city! These -limits are now marked by pillars of masonry, except on the -Jiddah and Jairanah road where there is some dispute as to -the exact boundary.</p> - -<p>The sacred territory of Medina is ten or twelve miles in -diameter, from Jebel ’Air to Saoor. Outside of these two -centres all of the province of Hejaz is legally accessible to infidels, -but the fanaticism of centuries has practically made the -whole region round Mecca and Medina forbidden territory to -any but Moslems. In Jiddah Christians are tolerated because -of necessity, but were the Mullahs of Mecca to have their way -not a Frankish merchant or consul would reside there for a -single day.</p> - -<p>Despite these regulations to shut out “infidels” from witnessing -the annual pilgrimage and seeing the sacred shrines of -the Moslem world, more than a score of travellers have braved -the dangers of the transgression and escaped the pursuit of -fanatics to tell the tale of their adventures.<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> Others have lost<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>32</span> -their life in the attempt even in recent years. Doughty<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> tells -of a Christian who was foully murdered by Turkish soldiers -when found in the limits of Medina in the summer of 1878. -Burton at one time barely escaped being murdered because -they suspected him of being an unbeliever.</p> - -<p>Jiddah, the harbor of Mecca, is distant from the sacred city -about sixty-five miles, and is in consequence the chief port of -debarkation and embarkation for pilgrims. It has a rather -pretty and imposing appearance from the sea, the houses being -white and three or four stories high, surrounded by a wall and -flanked by a half dozen lazy windmills of Dutch pattern! Its -streets are narrow, however, and indescribably dirty, so that -the illusion of an Oriental picture is dispelled as soon as you -set foot on shore. The sanitary condition of this port is the -worst possible; evil odors abound, the water supply is precarious -and bad, and a shower of rain is always followed by -an outbreak of fever. The population is not over 20,000 of -every Moslem nation under heaven, Galilee of “the believers.” -Its commercial importance, which once was considerable, has -altogether declined. The opening of the Suez canal and the -direct carrying of trade by ocean steamers dealt the deathblow -to the extensive coast-trade of both Jiddah and the other Red -Sea ports. The people of Jiddah, like those of Mecca, live -by fleecing pilgrims, and when the traffic is brisk and pilgrims -affluent they grow rich enough to go to Mecca and set up a -larger establishment of the same sort. There are hotel-keepers, -drummers, guides, money-changers, money-lenders, slave-dealers<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>33</span> -and even worse characters connected with the annual transfer -of the caravans of <i>hajees</i> (pilgrims) from the coast inland. -The number of pilgrims arriving at Jiddah by sea in 1893 was -92,625. In 1880 Mr. Blunt collected some interesting statistics -of the total numbers attending the pilgrimage at Mecca,<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> and -his investigations prove that the overland caravans are steadily -becoming smaller.</p> - -<p>Before any pilgrims are allowed to enter Jiddah harbor they -are compelled to undergo ten days’ quarantine at Kamaran, an -island on the west coast of Arabia; this is the first woe. At -Jiddah they remain only a few days and then having secured -their <i>Mutawwaf</i> or official guide they proceed to Mecca. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>34</span> -road is barren and uninteresting in the extreme. Halfway to -Mecca is El Had where the road divides; one branch leads -to Taif, the only fertile spot in this wilderness province, and -the other proceeds to Mecca, the ancient name of which was -Bakkah.</p> - -<p>Were we to believe one half of what is said by Moslem -writers in praise of Mecca it would prove the Holy City to be -a very paradise of delights, a centre of learning and the paragon -of earthly habitations. But the facts show it to be far -otherwise. The location of the city is unfortunate. It lies in -a hot sandy valley absolutely without verdure and surrounded -by rocky barren hills, destitute of trees or even shrubs. The -valley is about 300 feet wide and 4,000 feet long, and slopes -toward the south. The Kaaba or Beit Allah is located in the -bed of the valley and all the streets slope toward it, so that it -is almost closed in on every side by houses and walls, and -stands as it were in the pit of the theatre. The houses are -built of dark stone and are generally lofty in order to accommodate -as many pilgrims as possible in the limited space. The -streets are nearly all unpaved and in summer the sand and -dust are as disagreeable as is the black mud in the rainy season. -Strangely enough, although the city itself and even the -Kaaba have more than once suffered from destructive floods -that have poured down the narrow valley, Mecca is poorly -provided with water. There are few cisterns to catch the -rains and the well water is brackish. The famous well of -Zemzem has an abundance of water but it is not fit to drink.<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> -The best water is brought by an aqueduct from the vicinity of -Arafat six or seven miles distant and sold for a high price by a -water-trust which annually fills the coffers of the Shereef of</p> - -<p><a id="PILGRIMS_AROUND_THE_KAABA_IN_THE_SACRED_MOSQUE_AT_MECCA"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-034" style="max-width: 93.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-034.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">PILGRIMS AROUND THE KAABA IN THE SACRED MOSQUE AT MECCA</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>35</span></p> - -<p>Mecca. This official is the nominal and often the real governor -of the city. He is chosen from the <i>Sayyids</i> or descendants -of Mohammed living in Hejaz or secures the high office by -force. His tenure of office is subject to the approval and authority -of the Turkish Sultan, whose garrisons occupy the fort -near the town.</p> - -<p>The Sacred Mosque, (Mesjid el Haram) containing the -Kaaba or Beit Allah is the prayer-centre of the Mohammedan -world and the objective point of thousands of pilgrims every -year. According to Moslem writers it was first constructed in -heaven, 2,000 years before the creation of the world. Adam, -the first man, built the Kaaba on earth exactly under the spot -occupied by its perfect model in heaven. The 10,000 angels -appointed to guard this house of God seem to have been very -remiss in their duty for it has often suffered at the hands of -men and from the elements. It was destroyed by the flood and -rebuilt by Ishmael and Abraham. The legends connected with -its construction and history fill many pages of the Moslem traditions -and commentaries. The name Kaaba means a <i>cube</i>; -but the building is not built true to line and is in fact an unequal -trapezium.<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> Because of its location in a hollow and its -black-cloth covering these inequalities are not apparent to the -eye.</p> - -<p>The Kaaba proper stands in an oblong space 250 paces long -by 200 broad. This open space is surrounded by colonnades -used for schools and as the general rendezvous of pilgrims. It -is in turn surrounded by the outer temple wall with its nineteen -gates and six minarets. The Mosque is of much more recent -date than the Kaaba which was well known as an idolatrous -Arabian shrine long before the time of Mohammed. The -Sacred Mosque and its Kaaba contain the following treasures: -the Black-Stone, the well of Zemzem, the great pulpit, the -staircase, and the <i>Kubattein</i> or two small mosques of Saab and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>36</span> -Abbas. The remainder of the space is occupied by pavements -and gravel arranged to accommodate and distinguish the four -orthodox sects in their devotions.</p> - -<p>The Black-Stone is undoubtedly the oldest treasure of Mecca. -Stone-worship was an Arabian form of idolatry in very ancient -times and relics of it remain in many parts of the peninsula. -Maximus Tyrius wrote in the second century, “the Arabians -pay homage to I know not what god which they represent by a -quadrangular stone.” The Guebars or ancient Persians assert -that the black stone was an emblem of Saturn and was left in -the Kaaba by Mahabad. We have the Moslem tradition that -it came down snow-white from heaven and was blackened by the -touch of sin—according to one tradition, that of an impure -woman, and according to another by the kisses of thousands of -believers. It is probably an aerolite and owes its reputation to -its fall from the sky. Moslem historians do not deny that it -was an object of worship before Islam, but they escape the -moral difficulty and justify their prophet by idle tales concerning -the stone and its relation to all the patriarchs beginning -with Adam.</p> - -<p>The stone is a fragment of what appears like black volcanic -rock sprinkled with irregular reddish crystals worn smooth by -the touch of centuries. It is held together by a broad band of -metal, said to be silver, and is imbedded in the southeast corner -of the Kaaba five feet from the ground. It is not generally -known that there is a second sacred stone at the corner facing -the south. It is called Rakn el Yemeni or Yemen pillar and is -frequently kissed by pilgrims although according to the correct -ritual it should only be saluted by a touch of the right hand.</p> - -<p>The well of Zemzem is located near the Makam Hanbali, the -place of prayer of this sect. The building which encloses the -well was erected in <span class="allsmcap">A. H.</span> 1072 (<span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> 1661) and its interior is -of white marble. Mecca perchance owes its origin as an old -Arabian centre to this medicinal spring with its abundant supply -of purgative waters for the nomads to-day go long distances</p> - -<p><a id="ALI_BEYS_PLAN"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp66" id="illus-036" style="max-width: 87.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-036.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">ALI BEY’S PLAN OF THE PROPHET’S MOSQUE AT MECCA<br /> -Commonly called Bait Allah or Gods House -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>37</span></p> - -<p>to visit sulphur and other springs in various parts of Arabia. -The well of Zemzem is one of the great sources of income to -the Meccans. The water is carried about for sale on the streets -and in the mosques in curious pitchers made of unglazed earthenware. -They are slightly porous so as to cool the water, -which is naturally always of a lukewarm temperature, and are -all marked with certain mystical characters in black wax. -Crowds assemble around the well during the pilgrimage and -many coppers fall to the share of the lucky Meccans who have -the privilege of drawing the water for the faithful.</p> - -<p>The pilgrimage to Mecca should be performed in the twelfth -lunar month of the calendar called <i>Dhu el Haj</i>. It is incumbent -on every believer except for lawful hindrance because of -poverty or illness. Mohammed made it the fifth pillar of religion -and more than anything else it has tended to unify the -Moslem world. The Koran teaching regarding the duties of -pilgrims at the Sacred Mosque, is as follows: “Proclaim to -the peoples a Pilgrimage. Let them come to thee on foot and -on every fleet camel arriving by every deep defile.” (Surah -xxii. 28.) “Verily As Safa and Al Marwa are among the signs -of God: whoever then maketh a pilgrimage to the temple or -visiteth it shall not be to blame if he go round about them -both.” (ii. 153.) “Let the pilgrimage be made in the months -already known and who so undertaketh the pilgrimage therein -let him not know a woman, nor transgress nor wrangle in the -pilgrimage.... It shall be no crime in you if ye seek an -increase from your Lord (by trade); and when ye pass swiftly -on from Arafat then remember God near the holy Mosque.... -Bear God in mind during the stated days; but if any -haste away in two days it shall be no fault to him, and if any -tarry it shall be no fault in him.” (Surah ii. passim.)</p> - -<p>From the Koran alone no definite idea of the pilgrim’s -duties can be gleaned; but fortunately for all true believers -the Prophet’s perfect example handed down by tradition leaves -nothing in doubt and prescribes every detail of conduct with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>38</span> -ridiculous minuteness. The orthodox way is as follows: arrived -within a short distance of Mecca the pilgrims, male and -female, put off their ordinary clothing and assume the garb of a -<i>hajee</i>. It consists of two pieces of white cloth one of which is -tied around the loins and the other thrown over the back; -sandals may be worn but not shoes and the head must be left -uncovered. (In idolatrous days the Arabs did not wear any -clothing in making the circuit of the Kaaba). On facing -Mecca the pilgrim pronounces the <i>niyah</i> or “intention”:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Here I am, O Allah, here I am;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No partner hast Thou, here I am;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Verily praise and riches and the kingdom are to Thee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No partner hast Thou, here am I.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>After certain legal ablutions the pilgrim enters the Mosque by -the Bab-el-salam and kisses the Black-Stone making the circuit, -running, around the Kaaba seven times (In idolatrous days -the Arabs did this in imitation of the motions of the planets; a -remnant of their Sabean worship.) Another special prayer is -said and then the pilgrim proceeds to Makam Ibrahim, where -Abraham is said to have stood when he rebuilt the Kaaba. -There the <i>hajee</i> goes through the regular genuflections and -prayers. He drinks next from the holy well and once more -kisses the Black-Stone. Then follows the running between -Mounts Safa and Merwa. Proceeding outward from the -Mosque by the gate of Safa he ascends the hill reciting the -153d verse of the Surah of the Cow. “Verily Safa and Merwa -are the signs of God.” Having arrived at the summit of the -mount he turns to the Kaaba and three times recites the words:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“There is no god but God!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">God is great!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There is no god save God alone!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He hath performed His promise and hath aided His servant and put to flight the hosts of infidels by Himself alone!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>39</span></p> -<p>He then runs from the top of Safa through the valley to the -summit of Merwa seven times repeating the aforesaid prayers -each time on both hills. This is the sixth day, on the evening -of which the pilgrim again encompasses the Kaaba. On the -next day there is a sermon from the grand pulpit. On the -eighth day the pilgrim goes three miles distant to Mina, where -Adam longed for his lost paradise (!) and there spends the -night. The next morning he leaves for Arafat, another hill -about eleven miles from Mecca, hears a second sermon, returning -before nightfall to Muzdalifa, a place halfway between -Mina and Arafat.</p> - -<p>The following day is the great day of the pilgrimage. It is -called the day of Sacrifice and is simultaneously celebrated all -over the Moslem world.<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> Early in the morning the pilgrim -proceeds to Mina where there are three pillars called, the -“Great Devil,” the “Middle Pillar” and the “First One.” -At these dumb idols the “monotheist” flings seven pebbles -and as he throws them says: “In the name of Allah and -Allah is mighty, in hatred of the devil and his shame, I do -this.” He then performs the sacrifice, a sheep, goat, cow or -camel according to the means of the pilgrim. The victim is -placed facing the Kaaba and a knife plunged into the animal’s -throat with the cry, <i>Allahu Akbar</i>. This ceremony concludes -the pilgrimage proper; the hair and nails are then cut and the -<i>ihram</i> or pilgrims’ garb is doffed for ordinary clothing. Three -days more are sometimes counted as belonging to the pilgrimage, -the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth days, called <i>Eyyam-u-tashrik</i>, -or days of drying flesh, because during them the flesh -of the sacrifices is cut into slices and dried in the sun to be -eaten on the return journey.</p> - -<p>After the Meccan pilgrimage most Moslems go to Medina to -visit the tomb of Mohammed; the Wahabees however consider<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>40</span> -this “infidelity” and honor of the creature more than of the -Creator. Other Moslems base their conduct on the saying of -the prophet himself, <i>Man yuhajja wa lam ye-zurni fakad -jefani</i>, “who goes on Haj and does not visit me has insulted -me!” The Meccans call themselves “neighbors of God” and -the people of Medina “neighbors of the prophet.” For long -ages a hot rivalry has existed between the two cities, a rivalry -which, beginning in the taunt or jest, often ends in bloodshed.</p> - -<p>The pilgrim, having completed all legal requirements, is -sure to visit the proper authorities and secure a <i>certificate</i> to -prove to his countrymen that he is a real Hajee and to substantiate -his religious boasting in days to come. The certificate -is also required when one goes on pilgrimage for a -deceased Moslem or a wealthy Moslem who is bedridden. In -such a case the substitute has all the pleasures (!) of the journey -at the expense of his principal but the merit goes to the -man who pays the bills and who naturally craves the receipt. -The certificate is of various forms and contains crude pictures -of the holy places and verses from Koran.</p> - -<p><a id="THE_MECCA_CERTIFICATE"></a></p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp52" id="illus-040-plate-4" style="max-width: 93.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-040-plate-4.jpg" alt="PLATE IV" /> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter illowp59" id="illus-040-plate-3" style="max-width: 93.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-040-plate-3.jpg" alt="PLATE III" /> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter illowp53" id="illus-040-plate-2" style="max-width: 93.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-040-plate-2.jpg" alt="PLATE II" /> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus-040-plate-1" style="max-width: 93.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-040-plate-1.jpg" alt="PLATE I" /> -<div class="caption"> -<p>THE MECCA CERTIFICATE, which is given to pilgrims to the sacred city, is -looked upon by Moslems as practically a passport to heaven. It is -especially interesting because of the inside view which it gives of the -Mohammedan religion. At the top of each page are quotations from the -Koran.</p> - -<p>PLATE I. has, at the right-hand upper corner, the representation of the -Mosque of Muzdalifa and tents of the Pilgrims; to the left of this, the -Mosque of Nimr, near Mount Arafat, and below it, the Mahmals of Syria -and Egypt, <i>i.e.</i>, palanquins carried on camels, surmounted by flags. To -the right is <i>Mount Arafat</i>, a sacred mountain about 12 miles northeast of -Mecca, which, in Moslem tradition, is said to be the place where Adam -and Eve met after the fall. The three pillars of Miná represented below, -are ancient pagan shrines, at each of which every pilgrim must hurl -seven stones at the devil. Near this is pictured the Mesjed, or Mosque -of Taif, the altar of Ishmael, the Dome of Abd-el Kader in Bagdad, and -at the extreme right the Dome of “Our Lord” Hassein al Kerbela, where -thousands of corpses of deceased Persians are brought yearly to be -buried. It is northwest of Bagdad, and lies in Turkish territory. There -are also pictured the birthplaces of Mohammed, Ali Ibu Abi Talib, Abu -Bekr, and Fatimeh, and the Tomb of Amina and Khadijah; also two -bell-shaped hills, Jebel Thaur and Jebel Nur.</p> - -<p>PLATE II. pictures the quadrangular court of the Mecca Haram, within -which is the circular colonnade, enclosing the <i>Kaaba</i> or <i>Beit Allah</i>, the -House of God. Below the representation of the Kaaba is depicted the -famous station of Abraham, a stone 20 inches long by 15 inches wide. It -is in the shape of a basin, and is buried in the earth. The name of -Abraham is connected with it from the tradition that he first built the -Kaaba. Below this may be noticed the famous “Beer Zemzem,” or Well of -Zemzem, which is claimed to be the water which Hager saw, when Ishmael -was dying of thirst. Around the circle are the praying places of the -Malikis, the Hanafys, the Hanbalys and the Shafi-is, the four great -sects of Islam. Around the quadrangle are 20 gates, such as Bab-su-Nebi, -Gate of the Prophet, Gate of Abraham, of Peace, of Abbas, of the Mare, -the Mule, Safa, of Farewell, of Wisdom, etc., etc.,—besides various -shrines.</p> - -<p>PLATE III. shows representations of the Holy Places of <i>El Medina</i>, the -tomb of Mohammed. The large dome in the upper left-hand corner is the -tomb of Mohammed. Around the page are drawn the mosque of Fatimeh, -mosque of the Strength of Islam, the mosques of Hamzeh, Abu Bekr, Ali -and Silman, the tomb of Othman, and various other shrines.</p> - -<p>PLATE IV. contains the Holy Shrines of Jerusalem. The Haram-es-Sherif, -or the quadrangular area once occupied by the temple of Solomon, -occupies the centre of the page. The Mosque commonly known as the Mosque -of Omar, is here styled “Beit el Mukdas” or the Holy House. Under the -dome in the black circle is the “Rock of God,” or the “Suspended Stone,” -which the prophet kicked back when it tried to follow him to heaven. The -two footprints of the prophet are pictured below the rock. Below this -are the Scales of “Mizan,” in which all men’s deeds are to be weighed at -the last day, together with the shears which cut off the life of men. At -the bottom is the great <i>Bridge of Sirat</i>, of vast length, the width of a -hair, and sharp as a razor, over which every mortal must walk -barefooted. At the right of it is the pit of Jehennam or hell, and to -the left Jenneh or Paradise. A hazardous feat it is to make the journey, -since on it depends one’s eternal destiny. Around this area are pictured -the tombs of David, Solomon, Moses and Jacob, and in the right-hand -upper corner is seen Jebel, Toor Sina, or Mount Sinai.</p> -</div></div> - -<p>Needless to relate these certificates cost money, as does -everything at Mecca save the air you breathe. No honest -Moslem ever spoke with praise of the citizens of Mecca; many -are their proverbs to prove why wickedness flourishes in the -courts of Allah. And European travellers agree that of all -Orientals the Meccans take the palm for thoroughgoing rascality. -Ali Bey dilates on the lewdness of the men and the looseness -of the women of Mecca. Hurgronje unblushingly lifts the -veil that hides the corruption of the sacred temple service with -its army of eunuch police, and pictures the slave-market in full -swing within a stone’s throw of the Kaaba. Burton thus characterizes -the men who live on their religion and grow fat -(figuratively) by unveiling its mysteries to others:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>41</span></p> - -<p>“The Meccan is a covetous spendthrift. His wealth, lightly -won, is lightly prized. Pay, pensions, stipends, presents, and -the ‘Ikram’ here, as at Medina, supply the citizen with the -means of idleness. With him everything is on the most expensive -scale, his marriage, his religious ceremonies, and his household -expenses. His house is luxuriously furnished, entertainments -are frequent, and the junketings of the women make up -a heavy bill at the end of the year. It is a common practice -for the citizen to anticipate the pilgrimage season by falling -into the hands of the usurer. The most unpleasant peculiarities -of the Meccans are their pride and coarseness of language. -They look upon themselves as the cream of earth’s sons, and -resent with extreme asperity the least slighting word concerning -the Holy City and its denizens. They plume themselves -upon their holy descent, their exclusion of infidels, their strict -fastings, their learned men, and their purity of language. In -fact, their pride shows itself at every moment; but it is not the -pride which makes a man too proud to do a dirty action. The -Meccans appeared to me distinguished, even in this foul-mouthed -East, by the superior licentiousness of their language. -Abuse was bad enough in the streets, but in the house it became -intolerable.”<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p> - -<p>Temporary marriages which are a mere cloak for open prostitution -are common in Mecca and are indeed one of the chief -means of livelihood to the natives<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a>. Concubinage and divorce -are more universal than in any other part of the Moslem -world;<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> sodomy is practiced in the Sacred Mosque itself<a id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> and -the suburbs of the city are the scene of nightly carnivals of -iniquity, especially after the pilgrims have left and the natives -are rich with the fresh spoils of the traffic.<a id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> As might be -expected, superstition grows rife in such a soil and under such -circumstances. All sorts of holy-places, legends, sacred rocks,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>42</span> -trees and houses abound. Every Moslem saint who tarried in -the city or died there has left something to be remembered and -honored.</p> - -<p>Gross ignorance coupled with equal conceit seems to be the -universal characteristic of the people of Mecca. Modern -science is laughed at and everything turns, on the Ptolemaic -system, around the little world of the Koran. Jinn are exorcised; -witches and the evil-eye are avoided by amulets; in -short all the superstitious practices of the Moslem world are -cultivated in this centre of world-wide pilgrimage. Astrology -still usurps the place of astronomy and it is considered blasphemy -to profess to know the hour of an eclipse or the day of -the new moon before it is revealed from heaven. Alchemy is -the science that attracts the Meccan physician more than the -marvels of surgery; potions of holy-writ or talismans are still -in use for sprains and dislocations. Their ignorance of geography -and history beyond the confines of the pilgrim-world is -pathetic. One of the chief Mullahs asked Hurgronje “how -many days was the caravan journey from Moskop (Russia) to -Andalusia (Spain)?” A government printing-press has been -opened at Mecca in recent years and an official gazette is published; -but even Turkish civilization and learning are considered -far from orthodox for their ways partake too much of those -of the “infidels” of the rest of Europe. Photography is a -forbidden art and money with “images” of queens and emperors -is only used with the prayer <i>istagfir allah</i>, “I ask pardon -of God.” On the other hand many old European coins -no longer current are looked upon as being doubly valuable as -amulets and charms. One of these, the <i>Mishkash</i> is supposed -to have special virtues for newly-married women.</p> - -<p>“The irony of history,” as Hurgronje remarks, “was not -satisfied that at Medina the grave of Mohammed who cursed -saint-worship should become a centre of pilgrimage, but added -the circumstance that at Mecca, Moslem women, who reject -images and Christ-worship, should prize as an amulet the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>43</span> -image of Jesus and an Evangelist.” Of course, the women -themselves are in total ignorance of the inscription and character -of the coin.</p> - -<p><a id="A_CHRISTIAN_COIN_USED_AS_AN_AMULET_BY_MECCAN_WOMEN"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-043" style="max-width: 18.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-043.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">A CHRISTIAN COIN USED AS AN AMULET BY MECCAN -WOMEN.<a id="FNanchor_17" href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a>]</div> -</div> - -<p>There is a great abundance of schools at Mecca but no -education. Everything is on the old lines, beginning and ending -with the Koran, that Procrustean bed for the human intellect. -“The letter killeth.” And it is the <i>letter</i> first, foremost -and always that is the topic of study. The youth learn to -read the Koran not to understand its meaning, but to drone it -out professionally at funerals and feasts, so many chapters for -so many shekels. Modern science or history are not even -mentioned, much less taught, at even the high-schools of -Mecca. Grammar, prosody, caligraphy, Arabian history, and -the first elements of arithmetic, but chiefly the Koran commentaries -and traditions, traditions, traditions, form the curriculum -of the Mohammedan college. Those who desire a postgraduate -course devote themselves to Mysticism (<i>Tassawaf</i>) -or join an order of the Derwishes who all have their representative -sheikhs at Mecca.</p> - -<p>The method of teaching in the schools of Mecca, which can -be taken as an example of the best that Arabia affords, is as -follows. The child of intellectual promise is first taught his -alphabet from a small wooden board on which they are written<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>44</span> -by the teacher; slates are unknown. Then he learns the -<i>Abjad</i> or numerical value of each letter—a useless proceeding -at present as the Arabic notation, originally from India, is -everywhere in use. After this he learns to write down the -ninety-nine names of Allah and to read the first chapter of the -Koran; then he attacks the last two chapters, because they are -short. The teacher next urges him through the book, making -the pupil read at the top of his voice. The greatest strictness -is observed as to pronunciation and pauses but nothing whatever -is said to explain the meaning of the words. Having -thus <i>finished</i> the Koran, that is, read it through once, the pupil -takes up the elements of grammar, learning rules by rote both -of <i>sarf</i> (inflection) and <i>nahw</i> (syntax). Then follow the liberal -sciences, <i>al-mantik</i> (logic), <i>al-hisab</i> (arithmetic), <i>al-jabr</i> -(algebra), <i>al-ma’ana wa’l beyan</i> (rhetoric and versification), -<i>al-fikh</i> (jurisprudence), <i>al-akäid</i> (scholastic theology), <i>at-tafsir</i> -(exegetics), <i>ilm ul-usul</i> (science of sources of interpretation) -and lastly, the capstone of education, <i>al-ahadith</i> (traditions). -Instruction is given by lectures; text-books are -seldom used; lessons begin in the morning and continue for a -few hours; in the afternoon they are interrupted by prayer-time. -Even at Mecca the favorite place for teaching is in the -Mosque-court where constant interruptions and distractions -must make it pleasant for a lazy pupil.</p> - -<p><a id="A_WOMAN_OF_MECCA"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus-044a" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-044a.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">A WOMAN OF MECCA</div> -</div> - - -<p><a id="A_MECCAN_WOMAN_IN_HER_BRIDAL_COSTUME"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus-044b" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-044b.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">A MECCAN WOMAN IN HER BRIDAL COSTUME</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>45</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="IV">IV<br /> - - -<small>THE HOLY LAND OF ARABIA—MEDINA</small></h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Within the sanctuary or bounds of the city all sins are forbidden; but -the several schools advocate different degrees of strictness. The Imam -Malik, for instance, allows no latrinæ nearer to El Medina than Jebel Ayr, -a distance of about three miles. He also forbids slaying wild animals, -but at the same time he specifies no punishment for the offence. All -authors strenuously forbid, within the boundaries, slaying man, (except -invaders, infidels and the sacrilegious) drinking spirits and leading an -immoral life. In regard to the dignity of the sanctuary there is but one -opinion; a number of traditions testify to its honor, praise its people and -threaten dreadful things to those who injure it or them.”—<i>Burton</i>.</p></div> - - -<p>About seventy miles southeast of Mecca is the small but -pleasant town of Taif, to which the pashas condemned -for the murder of Abdul Aziz Sultan were banished. It is one -of the most interesting and attractive towns of all Arabia, being -surrounded by gardens and vineyards from which Mecca has -been supplied for ages. The tropical rains last from four to -six weeks at Taif, and good wells abound to water the gardens -when the rains cease, so that the place is famous for its garden-produce. -In close proximity to the barren Mecca district -Taif is a paradise for the pilgrim and a health resort for the -jaundiced, fever-emaciated Meccan. At Taif Doughty saw -three old stone idols of “the days of ignorance”; <i>El Uzza</i>, -a block of granite some twenty feet long; another called -<i>Hubbal</i>, with a cleft in the middle, “by our Lord Aly’s sword-stroke”; -and <i>El Lat</i>, an unshapely crag of grey granite. -These were earlier stone-gods of the Arab, and now lie forsaken -in the dirt, while their brother-god, the famous Black-Stone, -receives the reverence of millions!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>46</span></p> - -<p>The road from Mecca to El Medina—“<i>the</i> city”—so -called because the prophet chose it as his home in time of persecution—leads -nearly due north. It is an uninteresting, and -for the most part, a forsaken country that separates the rival -cities. Burton writes that it reminded him of the lines,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Full many a waste I’ve wandered o’er,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Clomb many a crag, crossed, many a shore,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But, by my halidome</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A scene so rude, so wild as this,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet so sublime in barrenness,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ne’er did my wandering footsteps press,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where’er I chanced to roam.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>There are two caravan-routes, both of which are used by the -pilgrims, but the eastern road is used most frequently.<a id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> - -<p>The region between Mecca and Medina is the home of the -ancient poets of Arabia and is classic ground. The seven -Moallakat or suspended poems find their scene in this region. -Lebid wrote:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Deserted is the village—waste the halting place and home,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At Mina, o’er Rijam and Ghul wild beasts unheeded roam,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On Rayyan hill the channel lines have left their naked trace,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Time-worn as primal writ that dints the mountain face.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>El Medina, formerly called <i>Yathrib</i>, is now also called <i>El -Munowera</i>, the “illuminated,” and devout Moslems commonly -claim to see, on approaching the city, a luminous haze -hanging over its mosques and houses. The legends and -superstitions that cluster around the last resting-place of the -Prophet are not less in number nor less credible than those that -glorify the place of his birth, although the town is only about<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>47</span> -half the size and contains 16,000 inhabitants. It consists of -three principal divisions: the town proper, the fort and the -suburbs. It is surrounded by a wall forty feet high; the streets -are narrow and unpaved; the houses are flat-roofed and double-stoned.</p> - -<p>The current dispute, however, for many centuries has been -regarding the relative sanctity and importance of the two cities, -Mecca and Medina. A visit to Medina is called <i>Ziyarat</i>, as -that to Mecca is called <i>Haj</i>; the latter is obligatory by order -of the Koran, while the former is meritorious on the authority -of tradition. The orthodox further stipulate, that circumambulation -around the prophet’s tomb at Medina is not allowed as -around the Kaaba at Mecca nor should men wear the <i>ihram</i>, nor -kiss the tomb. On the other hand, to spit upon it or treat it -with contempt, as the Wahabees did, is held to be the act of -an infidel. To quote again from Burton: “The general consensus -of Islam admits the superiority of the Beit Allah at -Mecca to the whole world; and declares Medina to be more -venerable than every part of Mecca, and consequently all the -earth, except only the Beit Allah. This last is a <i>juste milieu</i> -view by no means in favor with the inhabitants of either -place.”</p> - -<p>The one thing that gives Medina claim to sanctity is the -prophet’s tomb, and yet there is some doubt as to whether he -is really buried in the mosque raised to his honor; of course -every Moslem, learned or ignorant, believes it, but there are -many arguments against the supposition.<a id="FNanchor_19" href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> One of these arguments<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>48</span> -alone would have little value against so old a tradition -and practice, but their cumulative force cannot be denied, and -throws serious doubt on the question whether the present -mosque of the prophet contains any trace of his remains. On -the other hand pious Moslems affirm that the prophet is not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>49</span> -really dead, but “eats and drinks in the tomb until the day of -resurrection,” and is as much alive as he ever was.</p> - -<p><a id="REPORTED_ARRANGEMENT_OF_THE_INTERIOR_OF_THE_HUJRAH"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowe25" id="illus-049"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-049.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">REPORTED ARRANGEMENT OF THE INTERIOR OF THE HUJRAH.</div> -</div> - -<p>The Mesjid-el-Nebi or prophet’s mosque at Medina is about -420 feet long by 340 broad. It is built nearly north and south -and has a large interior courtyard, surrounded by porticoes. -From the western side we enter the <i>Rauzah</i> or prophet’s garden. -On the north and west it is not divided from the rest of the portico; -on the south side runs a dwarf wall and on the east it is -bounded by the lattice-work of the <i>Hujrah</i>. This is an irregular -square of about fifty feet separated on all sides from the walls -of the Mosque by a broad passage. Inside there are said to be -three tombs carefully concealed inside the iron railing by a heavy -curtain arranged like a four-post bed. The Hujrah has four -gates, all kept locked except the fourth which admits only the -officers in charge of the treasure, the eunuchs who sweep the -floor, light the lamps and carry away the presents thrown into -the enclosure by devotees. It is commonly asserted that many -early Moslem saints and warriors desired the remaining space -for their grave, but that by Mohammed’s wish it is reserved -for ’Isa on his second coming and death. The story of a -coffin suspended by magnets has of course no foundation in -fact and may have arisen from the crude drawings of the -tombs.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>50</span></p> - -<p>The <i>ziyarah</i> at the Mosque consists in prayers and alms-giving -with silent contemplation on the sacred character of Mohammed. -The following sample “prayer” offered at the -shrine of Fatima, gives some idea of what is to Christian ears -a blasphemous service: “Peace be upon thee, O daughter of -the apostle of Allah! Thou mother of the excellent seed. -Peace be upon thee thou Lady amongst women. Peace be upon -thee, O Fifth of the people of the Prophet’s garment! A pure -one, O virgin! Peace be on thee, O spouse of our Lord, Ali -el Murtaza, O mother of Hasan and Hussein, the two Moons, -the two Lights, the two Pearls, the two princes of the youth of -Heaven, the Coolness of the eyes of true believers! etc., etc.” -The prayers offered at the prophet’s grave are more fulsome in -their praise and of much greater length. What would the -camel-driver of Mecca say if he heard them?</p> - -<p>As at Mecca so at Medina the townspeople, one and all, -live on the pilgrims. The keeper of the Mosque is a Turkish -Pasha with a large salary and many perquisites; there are -treasurers and professors and clerks and sheikhs of these eunuchs -kept on salary. Sweepers and porters, all eunuchs, and guides -as at Mecca who live by backsheesh or extortion. Water-carriers -here too peddle about the brackish fluid by the cupful to -thirsty pilgrims. Those who are not in the service of the -Mosque usually keep boarding-houses, or sell prayers which -are to be made once a year at the prophet’s tomb, for the absent -pilgrim. Most of the officials receive their salaries from Constantinople -and Cairo.</p> - -<p>The population of Medina is not less a mixed multitude -than that of Mecca; here also the observation of Zehm holds -true, “every pilgrimage brings new fathers.” Burton testifies, -“It is not to be believed that in a town garrisoned by Turkish -troops, full of travelled traders, and which supports itself by -plundering <i>Hajis</i> the primitive virtues of the Arab could exist. -The Meccans, a dark people, say of the Madani, that their -hearts are as black as their skins are white. This is of course<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>51</span> -exaggerated; but it is not too much to assert that pride, pugnacity, -a peculiar point of honor, and a vindictiveness of wonderful -force and patience, are the only characteristic traits of -Arab character which the citizens of El Medina habitually display.” -Intoxicating liquors are made at Medina and sold, although -not openly.</p> - -<p>There are two colleges with “libraries” at Medina and many -mosque-schools. In Burckhardt’s day he charged the town -with utter ignorance and illiteracy, but now they devote themselves -apparently to literature, at least in a measure.</p> - -<p>The climate of Medina is better than that of Mecca and the -winters are cold and rigorous. Mohammed is reputed to have -said, “he who patiently endures the cold of El Medina and -the heat of Mecca, merits a reward in paradise.”</p> - -<p>Returning from the lesser pilgrimage to Medina the traveller -can retrace his steps to Mecca, and thence to Jiddah, or go to -the nearer port of Yanbo (Yembo) and thence return home by -steamer or sailing-vessel. The distance by camels’ route, between -Medina and the port is 132 miles, six stages, although a -good dromedary can make it in two days. At Yanbo the -sultan’s dominions in Arabia begin, for the coast northward -pertains to Egypt. The town resembles Jiddah in outward -appearance, has 400 or 500 houses built of white coral rock, -dirty streets and a precarious water supply. Sadlier, (1820) -after his journey across the peninsula, visited Yanbo, and describes -it as “a miserable Arab seaport surrounded by a wall”; -Yanbo has, however, a good harbor, and was in earlier days, a -large and important place; it has been identified with Iambia -village on Ptolemy’s map a harbor of the old Nabateans.</p> - -<p>Thus ends our pilgrimage through the Holy Land of Arabia. -Let us in conclusion ponder the words of Stanley Lane Poole -as to the place which Mecca and the pilgrimage holds in the -Mohammedan religion. “It is asked how the destroyer of -idols could have reconciled his conscience to the circuits of the -Kaaba and the veneration of the Black-Stone covered with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>52</span> -adoring kisses. The rites of the pilgrimage cannot certainly -be defended against the charge of superstition; but it is easy -to see why Mohammed enjoined them.... He well -knew the consolidating effect of forming a centre to which his -followers should gather, and hence he reasserted the sanctity -of the Black-Stone that ‘came down from heaven’; he ordained -that everywhere throughout the world the Moslem -should pray looking toward the Kaaba, and enjoined him to -make the pilgrimage thither. Mecca is to the Moslem what -Jerusalem is to the Jew. It bears with it all the influence of -centuries of associations. It carries the Moslem back to the -cradle of his faith and the childhood of his prophet.... -And, most of all, it bids him remember that all his brother -Moslems are worshipping toward the same sacred spot; that -he is one of a great company of believers united by one faith, -filled with the same hopes, reverencing the same thing, worshipping -the same God.”</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>53</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="V">V<br /> - -<small>ADEN AND AN INLAND JOURNEY</small></h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Aden is a valley surrounded by the sea; its climate is so bad that it -turns wine into vinegar in the space of ten days. The water is derived -from cisterns and is also brought in by an aqueduct two farsongs long.”</p> - -<p class="psig"> -—<i>Ibn-el-Mojawir.</i> (<span class="allsmcap">A.D</span>. 1200)<br /> -</p></div> - - -<p>Arabia is unfortunate because, like a chestnut-burr, its -exterior is rough and uninviting. In scenery and climate, -Yemen fares worst of all the provinces. The two gateways to -Arabia Felix are very <i>infelix</i>. What could be more dreary -and dull and depressing than the “gloomy hills of darkness” -that form the background to Aden as seen from the harbor? -There is no verdure, no vegetation visible; everywhere there -is the same appearance of a cinder heap. And where can one -find a more filthy, hot, sweltering, odorous native town than -Hodeidah? Yet these two places are the gateways to the most -beautiful, fertile, populous and healthful region of all Arabia.</p> - -<p>Yemen is best known of all the provinces, and has been -quite thoroughly explored by a score of intrepid travellers.<a id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> -Most people, however, travelling in a P. and O. Steamer, calling -at Aden for coal, remain in total ignorance of the fair -highlands just beyond the dark hills that hide the horizon<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>54</span> -Yemen extends from Aden to Asir on the north and eastward -into Hadramaut for an indefinite distance. On the earlier -maps Arabia Felix stretched as far as Oman—a great mountainous -region with a temperate climate. An Arabian author, -describing Yemen as it was before the time of Mohammed, -wrote: “Its inhabitants are all hale and strong, sickness is -unknown, nor are there poisonous plants or animals; nor fools, -nor blind people, and the women are ever young; the climate -is like paradise and one wears the same garment summer and -winter.”</p> - -<p>The massive rock promontory of volcanic basalt called Aden, -has from time immemorial been the gateway and the stronghold -for all Yemen. It is generally agreed that Ezekiel, the -prophet, referred to Aden when he wrote. “Haran and -Canneh and <i>Eden</i>, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur and Chilmad, -were thy merchants.” The place was fortified and its -wonderful rock cisterns were probably first constructed by -the early Himyarites. A Christian church was erected at -Aden by the embassy of the Emperor Constantius, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 342, -and Aden was for a long time in the hands of the Christian -kings of Yemen. Then it fell a prey to the Abyssinians and -next to the Persians, about the time when Mohammed was born. -Albuquerque in 1513 with his Portuguese warriors laid siege to -Aden for four days, but in spite of scaling-ladders and gunpowder -could not take the town. The Mameluke Sultans of -Egypt also failed to capture this fortress. In 1838 the English -took it by storm and have held the place ever since.</p> - -<p>Aden is now a British settlement, a commercial-centre, a -coaling-station and a fortress; the last most emphatically. All -the latest improvements in engineering and artillery have been -put to use in fortifying the place. The ride from Steamer-Point -to “the crater” or from the telegraph-station to the -“Crescent” gives one some idea of the vast amount of money -and labor expended to shape this Gibraltar and make it impregnable -from land and sea. The isthmus is guarded by<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>55</span> -massive lines of defence, strengthened by a broad ditch cut -out of the solid rock; bastions, casements and tunnels all serve -one purpose; batteries, towers, arsenals, magazines, barracks; -mole-batteries toward the sea, mines in the harbor, obstruction -piers and subservient works;—everything tells of military -strength, and the town has always a warlike aspect in perfect -accord with its forbidding physical geography.</p> - -<p>The inhabited peninsula is an irregular oval about fifteen -miles in circumference; it is in reality a large extinct crater -formed of lofty precipitous hills the highest peak of which, -Shem Shem, has an altitude of nearly 1,800 feet. The -varieties of rock are numerous, and vary in color from -light brown to dark green. Pumice and tufas are very common, -the former is an article of export. Water is very scarce, -and there is almost no rainfall during some years. When -there is a shower, the nature of the soil and the immense watershed -for so small an area cause heavy torrents to pour down -the valleys. These rare occasions are utilized to fill the huge -tanks near Aden camp. The tanks were built as early as 600 -A.D. by the Yemenites who built besides the celebrated dam at -Marib, and the many similar structures in various parts of -Yemen. Water is also brought by an aqueduct from Sheikh -Othman, seven miles distant, but the majority of the population -is supplied from the government condensers. In spite of -the desert character of the soil and the aridity of the climate -Aden is not entirely without natural vegetation. Thomas -Anderson of the Bengal Medical Service enumerates ninety-four -species of plants found on the Aden peninsula, some of -which are entirely unique. Most of the plants, however, are -desert-dwellers with sharp thorns, an aromatic odor, and yield -gums and resins.</p> - -<p>The Aden settlement has four centres of population; Steamer-Point, -the Crescent, the town of Maala and the “Camp” or -Aden proper. A road, the only road in fact, extends from -Steamer-Point on the west to Aden proper on the east, and no<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>56</span> -one can boast of having seen Aden who has not taken the ride -in a <i>geri</i> from the landing-pier to the tanks. The Aden horses -are of all creatures most miserable for the geri-drivers whip their -horses much, but feed them little. The Crescent is a semi-circular -range of houses and shops crowded against the mountain -side; with a Hotel de l’Univers and a Hotel de l’Europe -(both equally “Grand”); cafés, shops, banks, and offices. The -post office, hospital, churches and barracks are further west -toward the telegraph-station. A drive of about two miles -brings us to the native town of Maala. Here the road forks, -the lower one leading to the barrier-gate and Sheikh Othman, -and the upper ascending the mountain through the gate of the -fortifications and by a sharp declivity leading down to the town -of Aden. It is not an Oriental town in its administration, but -it has all the motley character of Port Said on its streets. -Europeans, Americans, Africans, Asiatics and mixed races are -all represented in the crowd of the market or the loungers in -the streets. The total population is 30,000, including Chinese, -Persians, Turks, Egyptians, Somalis, Hindus, Parsees, Jews -and Arabs from every part of the peninsula. Aden is a great -centre for native shipping, and the dhows and buggalows that -sail every year from the Persian Gulf to Yemen and Jiddah -alway call at Aden <i>en route</i>. Also from Oman and Hadramaut -the modern Sinbads run their craft into Aden to exchange -produce or to lay in supplies for their voyages to the coast of -Africa.</p> - -<p>The distance from Aden to Yemen’s old capital, Sana is -nearly 200 miles in a direct line, but on my second journey -thither, in 1894, I was obliged to take a roundabout journey -to Taiz, because of an Arab uprising. This and the mountainous -character of the country made the distance over 250 -miles. This route passes through, or near, all the important -towns of Yemen south of Sana.</p> - -<p><a id="TRAVELLING_IN_SOUTHERN_ARABIA"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp98" id="illus-056a" style="max-width: 56.25em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-056a.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">TRAVELLING IN SOUTHERN ARABIA</div> -</div> - -<p><a id="THE_KEITH_FALCONER_MEMORIAL_CHURCH_IN_ADEN"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-056b" style="max-width: 56.25em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-056b.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">THE KEITH FALCONER MEMORIAL CHURCH IN ADEN</div> -</div> - -<p>With my Bedouin companion, Nasir, I left Sheikh Othman -early on the second morning of July. We reached a small -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>57</span> -village, Wahat, at noon, the thermometer registering 96° in the -shade. After a short rest we mounted the camels at seven -o’clock in the evening for an all-night journey. Our course -was through a barren region, and at daylight we entered Wady -Mergia, with scanty vegetation, resting at a village of the same -name under a huge acacia tree. The next day we entered the -mountains, where rich vegetation showed a cooler climate. We -passed several villages, Dar El Kadim, Khoteibah, Suk-el-Juma -and others. As this was said to be a dangerous part of the road -all the caravan, which we joined at Wahat, was on the lookout, -with lighted rope-wicks for their flint-locks swinging from -their shoulders and looking in the dark like so many fireflies. At -three A.M. we had ascended to the head of the wady and rested -for the day at Mabek. All the houses here are of stone, the -booths of date-mats and twigs being only found on the maritime -plain of Yemen. During the night there had been talk among -the wild Arabs of the village of holding me as a hostage to -obtain money from the English at Aden! But Nasir quieted -them with a threefold Bedouin oath that I was not a government -official nor an Englishman, but an American traveller.</p> - -<p>The day after leaving Mabek brought us to the beginning of -the happy valleys of Yemen, very different from the torrid -coast. A country where the orange, lemon, quince, grape, -mango, plum, apricot, peach, apple, pomegranate, fig, date, -plantain and mulberry, each yield their fruit in season; where -wheat, barley, maize, millet and coffee are staple products and -where there is a glorious profusion of wild flowers—called -“grass” by the unpoetic camel-drivers. A land whose mountains -lift up their heads over 9,000 feet, terraced from -chilly top to warm valley with agricultural amphitheatres, -irrigated by a thousand rills and rivulets, some of them perennial, -flowing along artificial channels or leaping down the rocks -in miniature falls. A land where the oriole hangs her nest on -the dark acacia, the wild doves hide in clefts of the rock and -the chameleon sports his colors by the wayside under the tall<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>58</span> -flowering cactus. Such is Yemen. The vegetation of Arabia -Felix begins just before reaching Mufallis, on this route, where -a Turkish castle and custom-house proclaim the boundary of -Ottoman aggression.</p> - -<p>Beautiful was the air and scenery on our march. Arab -peasants were at work in the fields, plowing<a id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> with oxen, repairing -the walls of the terraces and opening the watercourses. -The women were all unveiled and had the picturesque costume -universal in southern Yemen; their narrow trousers were -fastened at the waist and ankles, while over their shoulders -hung long mantle-like garments, low in the neck, girded, and -fringed at the bottom with embroidered cloth of green or red. -Here they wear a kind of light turban, but on the Hodeidah -coast broad-brimmed straw hats cover the heads of the Yemen -belles as they urge their donkeys to market.</p> - -<p>At sunrise we were in sight of the highest peaks to the left of -the wady-bed. One of them is crowned by a <i>walli</i> or saint’s -tomb of Saled bin Taka. These tombs are common in Yemen -and thousands of people visit them annually to ask intercession, -each saint having a special day in the Moslem calendar. At -Mocha the grave of the Arab sheikh Abu-el-Hassan Shadeli, -who first discovered the use of coffee, is highly honored by distant -pilgrims.</p> - -<p>At eight o’clock on the morning of July fourth we reached -the <i>burj</i> called Mufallis and had our first experience of Turkish -rule in Yemen. Unexpectedly we here stumbled upon a -Turkish custom-house, which I had thought was located at -Taiz, as the boundary of Turkish Yemen on my maps did not -extend further south. An unmannerly negro, calling himself -Mudeer of Customs, looked out of a port-hole and demanded -my ascent. Through dirt and up darkness I reached his little -room and stated my errand and purpose. No kind words or<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>59</span> -offered backsheesh would avail; “<i>all</i> the baggage must be -opened and <i>all</i> books were forbidden entrance into Yemen by -a recent order,” so he affirmed. First, therefore, I unscrewed -the covers of the two boxes with an old bowie-knife. The -books, after having been critically examined by eyes that could -not read, were seized; next my saddle-bags were searched, and -every book and map was also confiscated. I was refused even -a receipt for the books taken, and to every plea or question the -only reply was, to go on to Taiz and appeal to the Governor.</p> - -<p>Despoiled of our goods, we left the “custom-house” at -eleven <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span>, taking an old man on a donkey armed with a -spear, as guide and defence, because Nasir heard that there was -disturbance in this quarter. At two o’clock we rested for half -an hour under the shade of a huge rock in the bed of the -wady, and then warned by peals of thunder, we hastened on, -hoping to reach Hirwa before dark. In less than an hour, however, -the sky was black, rain fell in torrents, and we found it -hopeless to attempt to urge the slow camels on through the -wady. There was no shelter in sight, so we crouched under a -small tree halfway up the mud bank. The rain turned to hail—large -stones that frightened the camels so that they stampeded—and -we became thoroughly chilled.</p> - -<p>When the storm ceased, our donkey man came with looks of -horror to tell us that his poor beast had fallen down the slope -and was being swept away by the torrent! What had been a -dry river bed half an hour before, was now a rushing rapids. -We decided to climb up the terraces to a house which we saw -on the mountain side. The camels had preceded us, and after -a vigorous climb over mud-fields and up the rocks we reached -the house and hospitality of Sheikh Ali. Over the charcoal -fire, after drinking plenty of <i>kishr</i>, (made from the <i>shell</i> of the -coffee bean,) we had to listen to a long discussion concerning -the lost donkey. Finally, matters were smoothed over by my -offering to pay one-half the price of the animal on condition -that our guide should proceed with us to <i>Hirwa</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>60</span></p> - -<p>The next day we were off early. Because of the steep ascents -I was obliged to walk most of the way, and I sprained my ankle -severely. It did not pain me until night, when it was swollen -and kept me “on crutches” for several days. <i>Hirwa</i> is a -small Arab village with a weekly market, and we found shelter -in the usual coffee-shop characteristic of Yemen. The following -day we reached <i>Sept Ez zeilah</i>, where we found cleaner -quarters than the night before. At about midnight a war party -of Bedouins came and frightened the peaceful villagers with demands -for food, etc. They had just returned from setting fire -to a small castle, and, numbering sixty hungry men, were not -to be intimidated. They were about to force their way into -our quarters when Nasir and the women promised to give them -food. Within, I kept quiet and listened to the noise of grinding -and baking and coffee-pounding. Without, some of the -Arabs seized a cow belonging to a poor woman and butchered -it for their feast. At this there was a crying of women and -barking of dogs and swearing of oaths by the Great Allah, such -as I hope never to hear again. Finally, the Arabs went away -with full stomachs, and we slept a broken sleep for fear they -might return. The next day we proceeded to Taiz, and arrived -at noon, one week after leaving Aden.</p> - -<p>The Mutasarrif Pasha, or Governor, was satisfied with my -passports, and expressed his regrets that the books had been -seized at Mufallis, but such was the law. He would, however, -allow me to send for them for inspection. What is written -here in four lines was the work and patience of four weary -days! A soldier was sent to Mufallis; I was obliged to entrust -him with money to pay the custom dues; to hire a camel to -carry the books; finally to pay for two sticks of sealing wax -(price in Taiz one rupee) with which to seal the books and -maps lest they be tampered with—all this at the order of the -enlightened government of the Sublime Porte! The first messenger -never reached Mufallis; on the road he was attacked by -Arabs, stabbed in the neck, robbed of his rifle, and carried<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>61</span> -back to the military hospital at Taiz. Then there was more -delay to find and send a second soldier with the same camel -and money and sealing wax, but with a new rifle. He returned -with the books safely after five days! No Turk could set a -value on a book, and so the law is that books are taxed by -weight, boxes included. The customs receipt was attached for -“200 kilograms Jewish books (at twenty piastres a kilo), -value, 4,000 piastres, and custom dues amounting to 288 -piastres.” In the same document I was spoken of as “the -Jew, Ishmail, Dhaif Ullah,”—a rather curious combination of -names. I was called a “Jew” because of the case of Hebrew -New Testaments; Ishmail was the equivalent for Samuel; and -Dhaif Ullah, my Arabic cognomen.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62"></a>62</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="VI">VI<br /> - -<small>YEMEN: THE SWITZERLAND OF ARABIA</small></h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“If the Turks would clear out of Yemen, a wonderful field for commerce -would be thrown open, for the Turkish government is vile and all -cultivators are taxed to an iniquitous extent.”—<i>Ion Keith Falconer.</i></p></div> - - -<p>While waiting at Taiz I had an opportunity to study -Yemen town life and the system of government, as -well as to learn a little about the cultivation of coffee and kaat, -the two chief products of this part of Yemen.</p> - -<p>Taiz has not often been visited by travellers from the occident, -and is a most interesting place. It is a large fortified -village of perhaps 5,000 inhabitants, the residence of a Mutasarrif -whose authority extends from the province of Hodeidah -to the Aden frontier including Mocha and Sheikh Seyyid on -the coast, recently abandoned by France. The place has five -gates, one of which has been walled up, and five large mosques -in Byzantine style. The largest Mosque is called El Muzafer, -and has two large minarets and twelve beautiful domes. Taiz -was once a centre of learning and its libraries were celebrated -all over Arabia. Firozabadi, the Noah Webster of the Arabic -language, taught in Taiz and edited his “Ocean” dictionary -there. He died at the neighboring town of Zebid, in 1414 <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span>, -and his grave is honored by the learned of Yemen.</p> - -<p>The bazaar is not large, but the four European shops kept by -Greek merchants are well supplied with all ordinary articles of -civilization. One public bath, in splendid condition, and a -military hospital show Ottoman occupation. The fort holds -perhaps 1,300 soldiers and the residence of the Mutasarrif is -in a beautiful and comfortable little building outside of the town.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63"></a>63</span> -The mosques were once grand but are now ruined and a home -for bats; the famous libraries have disappeared and the subterannean -vaults of the largest Mosque formerly used as porticoes -for pupils are now Turkish horse-stables. There is a post -office and telegraph; the post goes once a week to Hodeidah -via Zebid and Beit el Fakih, and the telegraph in the same direction -a little more rapidly when the wires are in order.</p> - -<p>Taiz is girt around by Jebel Sobr, the highest range of -mountains in southern Yemen. Hisn Aroos peak, near the -town, has an elevation of over 7,000 feet. According to -Niebuhr and Defler, on a clear day one can look from the summit -of this peak across the lowlands and the Red Sea into -Africa. I was unable to reach the summit as my Arab guide -failed me and the days were misty and frequent rains fell.</p> - -<p>Taiz is the centre of kaat-culture for all Yemen, and coffee -comes here on its way to Hodeidah or Aden. Amid all the -wealth of vegetation and fruitage every plant seems familiar to -the tourist save kaat. It is a shrub whose very name is unknown -outside of Yemen, while there it is known and used by -every mother’s son, as well as by the mothers and daughters -themselves. Driving from Aden to Sheikh Othman, one first -learns the <i>name</i>. Why are those red flags hoisted near the -police stations, at intervals on the road, and why are they -hauled down as soon as those camels pass? Oh, they are taking -loads of kaat for the Aden market, and the flags are to -prevent cheating of the customs. Over 2,000 camel loads come -into Aden every year, and each load passes through English -territory by “block-signal” system, for it is highly taxed. As -to its <i>use</i>, step into a kahwah in any part of Yemen shortly before -sunset, and you will see Arabs each with a bundle of -green twigs in his lap, chewing at the leaves of kaat.</p> - -<p>At Taiz I first had an opportunity to meet the Jews of the -interior of Yemen. Altogether they number perhaps 60,000 in -the whole province. They live mostly in the large towns and very -few are agriculturists. They are a despised and down-trodden<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64"></a>64</span> -race, but they say at Sana, that their condition is not so bad -under the Turks as it was under the Arab rulers before 1871. -The accounts of their origin are discrepant. Some say they -are descended from the Jews of the Dispersion, but others -hold that they were immigrants from the North over 900 -years ago. They are more cleanly, more intelligent and more -trustworthy than the Arabs; and although they are out of all -communication with the rest of the world and in ignorance of -their European countrymen they are not ignorant of Hebrew -and rabbinic learning. Their synagogue near Taiz is a low -stone building, twenty-five by fifteen feet. For furniture it has -only a few curtains of embroidered texts, a printed diagram of -the ancient candlestick, with the names of the twelve tribes, -and a high reading-desk. Such are all the synagogues of -Yemen.</p> - -<p>At Taiz the Jews seemed to have grown content under long -centuries of oppression and taxation. Many of the old -Moslem laws against infidels, such as those forbidding them to -<i>ride</i>, to carry weapons or wear fine clothes in public, are still -rigorously enforced by custom if not by the government. The -Jew is universally despised, yet he cannot be spared, for nearly -all artisan work is in Jewish hands. The Moslem Arab has -learned nothing from the Jew outside of the Koran; but, alas! -the Jew has imbibed many foolish customs and superstitions -foreign to his creed from Islam.</p> - -<p>When the Hebrew Scriptures reached Taiz I was again disappointed, -for the Governor would not permit the boxes to be -opened, but they were to be sent sealed and under guard to -Sana. I afterward learned that the “guard” was for me as -well as the books, and that the soldier carried a letter with this -accusation written: “This is a converted Jew, who is corrupting -the religion of Islam, and sells books to Moslems and -Jews.” I had no alternative but to proceed to Sana; taking -a Damar Arab as servant, having dismissed the Aden camels.</p> - -<p>I left Taiz on a mule July 26th, and arrived at Seyanee the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65"></a>65</span> -same day. The following night we reached Ibb. Here I was -forced to lodge outside of the town, as the guard had instructions -not to let me “see things.” I endured this impatiently, -until I learned that our servant had been imprisoned -on our arrival because he told me the names of the villages on -the route! I then appealed to the Mayor, and on virtue of my -passports demanded the right of going about the town and the -release of my servant. After some delay, both requests were -granted. The incident is one of many to show the suspicion -with which a stranger is regarded by the authorities in Yemen. -On Saturday the soldier and I hastened on to reach the large -town of Yerim before Sunday, and rest there, waiting for the -baggage camel. It was a long ride of twelve hours, but -through a delightful country everywhere fertile and terraced -with coffee plantations and groves of kaat.</p> - -<p>Yerim, with perhaps 300 houses, lies in a hollow of the -Sumara range of mountains. It has a fortress and some houses -of imposing appearance, but the general aspect of the town is -miserable. A neighboring marsh breeds malaria, and the place -is proverbially unhealthy in this otherwise salubrious region. -Niebuhr’s botanist, Forskal, died here on their journey in 1763. -The road from Ibb to Yerim has perhaps the finest scenery of -any part of Yemen; never have I seen more picturesque -mountains and valleys, green with verdure and bright with -blossoms. Scabiosa, bluebells, forget-me-nots, golden-rod, -four-o’clocks and large oleander-trees—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“All earth was full of heaven</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And every bush afire with God.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The cacti-plants were in full bloom, and measured twenty -feet against the mountain passes. Two thousand feet below -one could hear the sound of the water rushing along the wady-bed -or disappearing under the bridges that span the valleys. -While high above, the clouds were half concealing the summit -of the “Gazelle Neck” (Unk el-Gazel).</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66"></a>66</span></p> - -<p>Sunday, July 29th, was a cold day at Yerim; early in the -morning the temperature went down to 52°, and at night two -blankets were needed. Not until nine o’clock was it warm -enough for the Yerim merchants to open their shops.</p> - -<p>A Jewish family, en route for Taiz, were stopping with us at -the caravansari, and at night I spoke for over two hours with -them and the Arabs about Christ. There was no interruption, -and I was impressed to see the interest of a Jew and Arab -alike in what I told them from Isaiah liii., reading it in Arabic -by the dim candle light, amidst all the baggage and beasts of -an Oriental inn. At the little village of Khader, eight miles -from Waalan, angry words arose from the “guard” because -I tried to speak to a Jew. When I spoke in protest -they began to strike the Jew with the butt end of their rifles,<a id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> -and when the poor fellow fled, my best defence was silence. -On my return journey, I inadvertently raised trouble again, by -mentioning that Jesus Christ and Moses were <i>Jews</i>—which the -Arabs considered an insult to the prophets of God.</p> - -<p>On the road beyond Yerim we passed a large boulder with -an irregular impression on one side. This is called Ali’s footprint, -and the Arabs who pass always anoint it with oil. The -steep ascents and descents of the journey were now behind -us. From Yerim on to Sana the plateau is more level. Wide -fields of lentils, barley and wheat take the place of the groves -of kaat and coffee; camels were used for ploughing, and -with their long necks and curious harness, were an odd sight.</p> - -<p>The next halt we made was at Damar, 8,000 feet above sea-level. -It is a large town, with three minaret-mosques and a -large bazaar; the houses are of native rock, three and four-stories -high, remarkably clean and well-built. Inside they are -whitewashed, and have the Yemen translucent slabs of gypsum<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67"></a>67</span> -for window-panes. From Damar the road leads northeast -over Maaber and the Kariet en-Nekil pass to Waalan; thence, -nearly due north, to Sana. From Damar to Waalan is thirty-five -miles, and thence to the capital, eighteen miles more. -The roads near the city of Sana are kept in good repair, -although there are no wheeled vehicles, for the sake of the -Turkish artillery.</p> - -<p>On Thursday, August 2d, we entered Sana by the Yemen -gate. Three years before I had entered the city from the other -side, coming from Hodeidah; then in the time of the Arab -rebellion and now myself a prisoner. I was taken to the -Dowla and handed over to the care of a policeman until the -Wali heard my case. After finding an old Greek friend from -Aden, who offered to go bail for me, I was allowed liberty, and -for nineteen days was busy seeing the city and visiting the -Jews.<a id="FNanchor_23" href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p> - -<p>Sana, anciently called Uzal, and since many centuries the -chief city of Yemen, contains some 50,000 inhabitants and lies -stretched out in a wide, level valley between Jebel Nokoom -and the neighboring ranges. It is 7,648 feet above sea-level. -The town is in the form of a triangle, the eastern point consisting -of a large fortress, dominating the town, and built upon the -lowest spur of Nokoom. The town is divided into three walled -quarters, the whole being surrounded by one continuous wall -of stone and brick. They are respectively the city proper, in -which are the government buildings, the huge bazaars, and the -residences of the Arabs and Turks; the Jews’ quarter; and -Bir-el-azib, which lies between the two, and contains gardens -and villas belonging to the richer Turks and Arabs. The city -had once great wealth and prosperity, and to-day remains, -next to Bagdad, the most flourishing city in all Arabia. The -shops are well supplied with European goods, and a large<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68"></a>68</span> -manufacture of silk, jewelry and arms is carried on. The government -quarter, with its cafés, billiard-rooms, large Greek shops, -carriages, bootblacks, and brass-band reminds one of Cairo. -Sana has forty-eight mosques, thirty-nine synagogues, twelve -large public-baths, a military hospital with 200 beds, and is the -centre of trade for all northern Yemen and northwestern -Hadramaut, as well as for the distant villages of Nejran and -fertile Wady Dauasir. Arabs from every district crowd the -bazaars, and long strings of camels leave every day for the -Hodeidah coast.</p> - -<p>On August 14th I took an early morning walk to Rhoda, a -village about eight miles north of Sana, and in the midst of -beautiful gardens. From Roda the direct caravan route leads -to Nejran, and from the outskirts of the village, looking north, -an inviting picture met the eye. A fertile plateau stretched out -to the horizon, and only two days’ journey would bring one into -the free desert beyond Turkish rule. But this time the way -across the peninsula was closed by my bankruptcy; robbed at -Yerim in the coffee-shop, and already in debt at Sana, it would -have been impossible to proceed, except as a dishonest dervish.</p> - -<p>On the 21st of August I left Sana for Hodeidah, receiving -a loan of twenty dollars from the Ottoman government, to be -paid back at the American consulate. We followed the regular -postal route, the same which I had travelled on my first journey.</p> - -<p>The plateau or table-land between Sana’a and Banàn is a -pasture country. The Bedouins live in the stone-built villages -and herd their immense flocks on the plain; camels, cows and -sheep were grazing by the hundreds and thousands. After -Banàn begins the difficult descent to the coast down breakneck -mountain <i>stairways</i> rather than roadways, over broken -bridges, and through natural arches. Fertile, cultivated mountain -slopes were on every side, reminding one of the valleys of -Switzerland. In one district near Suk-el-Khamis the whole -mountain-side for a height of 6,000 feet was terraced from top -to bottom. General Haig wrote of these terraces: “One can<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69"></a>69</span> -hardly realize the enormous amount of labor, toil and perseverance -which these represent. The terraced walls are usually -from five to eight feet in height, but toward the top of the -mountain they are sometimes as much as fifteen or eighteen -feet. They are built entirely of rough stone, laid without -mortar. I reckon on an average that each wall retains a terrace -not more than twice its own height in width, and I do not -think I saw a single breach in one of them unrepaired.”<a id="FNanchor_24" href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> - -<p>In Yemen there are two rainy seasons, in spring and in autumn, -so that there is generally an abundance of water in the -numerous reservoirs stored for irrigation. Yet, despite the extraordinary -fertility of the soil and the surprising industry of -the inhabitants, the bulk of the people are miserably poor, ill-fed -and rudely clothed, because they are crushed down by a -heartless system of taxation. Every agricultural product, implement -and process is under the heavy hand of an oppressive -administration and a military occupation that knows no law. -The peasantry are robbed by the soldiers on their way to -market, by the custom-collector at the gate of each city, and -by the tax-gatherer in addition. On the way to Sana my -soldier-companion stopped a poor peasant who was urging on -a little donkey loaded with two large baskets of grapes; he -emptied the best of the grapes into his saddle-bags, and then -beat the man and cursed him because some of the grapes were -unripe! No wonder we read of rebellions in Yemen, and no -wonder that intense hatred lives in every Arab against the very -name of Turk.</p> - -<p>From Suk-el-Khamis, a dirty mountain village,<a id="FNanchor_25" href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> with an elevation -of over 9,500 feet, the road leads by Mefak and Wady -Zaun to the peculiarly located village of Menakha. At an -altitude of 7,600 feet above sea-level, it is perched on a narrow -ridge between two mountain ranges. On either side of the one<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70"></a>70</span> -street that forms the backbone of the summit are precipices -2,000 feet deep. So narrow is the town that there are places -where one can stand and gaze down both sides of the abyss at -the same time. To reach it from the west there is only one -path zigzagging up the mountain-side, and from the east it can -only be approached by a narrow track cut in the face of the -precipice and winding up for an ascent of 2,500 feet. Menakha -is the centre of the coffee trade; it has a population of -10,000 or more, one-third of which are Jews. There are four -Greek merchants, the Turks had 2,000 troops garrisoned in the -town, and the bazaars were equal to those of Taiz. Its exact -elevation is given by Defler, after eighteen observations, as -7,616 feet above sea-level.</p> - -<p>From Menakha to the coast is only two long days’ journey; -three by camel. The first stage is to Hejjeila, at the -foot of the high ranges, thence to Bajil, a village of 2,000 people, -and along the barren, hot plain to Hodeidah. At Bajil -the people are nearly all shepherds, and the main industry is -dyeing cloth and weaving straw. Here one sees the curious -Yemen straw hats worn by the women, and here also the peasant-maidens -wear no veils. Yet they are of purer heart and -life than the black-clouted and covered women of the Turkish -towns.</p> - -<p>Hodeidah by the sea is very like Jiddah in its general appearance. -The streets are narrow, crooked and indescribably -filthy. The “Casino” is a sort of Greek hotel for strangers, -and the finest house in the city is that of Sidi Aaron, near the -sea, with its fine front and marble courtyard. The population -is of a very mixed character; east of the city in a separate -quarter live the <i>Akhdam</i> Arabs, whose origin is uncertain, but -who are considered outcasts by all the other Arabs. They are -not allowed to carry arms and no Arab tribe intermarries with -them.</p> - -<p>From Hodeidah there is a regular line of small steamers to -Aden, and the Egyptian Red Sea coasting steamers also call<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71"></a>71</span> -here fortnightly. The trade of Hodeidah was once flourishing, -but here too Turkish misrule has brought deadness and dullness -into business, and taxation has crushed industrial enterprise.</p> - -<p><a id="AN_ARABIAN_COMPASS"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp75" id="illus-071" style="max-width: 75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-071.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">AN ARABIAN COMPASS.</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72"></a>72</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="VII">VII<br /> - -<small>THE UNEXPLORED REGIONS OF HADRAMAUT</small></h2></div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent7">“As when to them who sail</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are past</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Mozambic, off at sea northeast winds blow</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sabean odors from the spicy shore</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of Araby the blest.”—<i>Milton.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p>We must take at least a glimpse of the almost unknown -region called Hadramaut.<a id="FNanchor_26" href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> This is a strip of territory -stretching between the great desert and the sea from Aden eastward -to Oman. Our knowledge of the interior of this region -was almost a perfect blank until some light was thrown on it -by the enterprising traveller A. Von Wrede in 1843. The -coast is comparatively well known, at least as far as Makalla -and Shehr. The land rises from the coast in a series of terraces -to Jebel Hamra (5,284 feet), which is connected on the -northeast with Jebel Dahura, over 8,000 feet high.</p> - -<p>Adolph Von Wrede sailed from Aden to Makalla and -thence penetrated inland as far as Wady Doan the most fertile -spot of all South Arabia. This wady flows northward through -the land of the Bni Yssa and the district is bordered on the -west by Belad-el-Hasan and on the east by Belad-el-Hamum. -But how far this region extends northward and whether the -sandy desert of El Ahkaf (quicksands) really begins with the -Wady Rakhia, a branch of the Doan are points on which Von -Wrede throws no light and which are still uncertain. In 1870<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73"></a>73</span> -the French Jew, Joseph Halévy, made a bold attempt to penetrate -into Hadramaut from Yemen. Since then little was -added to our knowledge of Hadramaut until 1893 when Shibam, -the residence of the most powerful Sultan of Hadramaut was -visited by Theodore Bent and his wife. In 1897 they made a -second journey into the same region which cost Mr. Bent his -health and afterward his life. From the account of these journeys -we quote a few paragraphs which set forth clearly the interesting -character of this almost unknown country.<a id="FNanchor_27" href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> - -<p>“Immediately behind Makalla rise grim arid mountains of a -reddish hue, and the town is plastered against this rich-tinged -background. By the shore, like a lighthouse, stands the white -minaret of the Mosque, the walls and pinnacles of which are -covered with dense masses of seabirds and pigeons; not far -from this the huge palace where the Sultan dwells reminds one -of a whitewashed mill with a lace-like parapet; white, red and -brown are the dominant colors of the town, and in the harbor -the Arab dhows with fantastic sterns rock to and fro in the -unsteady sea, forming altogether a picturesque and unusual -scene.</p> - -<p>“Nominally Makalla is ruled over by a Sultan of the Al -Kaiti family, whose connection with India has made them very -English in their sympathies, and his Majesty’s general appearance, -with his velvet coat and jewelled daggers, is far more -Indian than Arabian. Really the most influential people in the -town are the money-grubbing Parsees from Bombay, and it is -essentially one of those commercial centres where Hindustani -is spoken nearly as much as Arabian. We were lodged in a -so-called palace hard by the bazaar, which reeked with mysterious -smells and was alive with flies; so we worked hard to -get our preparations made and to make our sojourn in this uncongenial -burning spot as short as possible....</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74"></a>74</span></p> - -<p>“Leaving these villages behind us, we climbed rapidly higher -and higher, until, at an elevation of over 5,000 feet, we found -ourselves at last on a broad level plateau, stretching as far as -the eye could reach in every direction, and shutting off the -Hadramaut from the coast. This is the ‘mons excelsus’ of -Pliny; here we have the vast area where once flourished the -frankincense and the myrrh. Of the latter shrub there is -plenty left, and it is still tapped for its odoriferous sap; but of -the former we only saw one specimen on the plateau, for in the -lapse of ages the wealth of this country has steadily disappeared; -further east, however, in the Mahra country, there is, -I understand, a considerable quantity left.</p> - -<p>“Near Hajarein are many traces of the olden days when the -frankincense trade flourished, and when the town of Doani, -which name is still retained in the Wady Doan, was a great -emporium for this trade. Acres and acres of ruins, dating -from the centuries immediately before our era, lie stretched -along the valley here, just showing their heads above the -weight of superincumbent sand which has invaded and overwhelmed -the past glories of this district. The ground lies -strewn with fragments of Himyaritic inscriptions, pottery, and -other indications of a rich harvest for the excavator, but the -hostility of the Nahad tribe prevented us from paying these -ruins more than a cursory visit, and even to secure this we had -to pay the Sheikh of the place nineteen dollars; and his greeting -was ominous as he angrily muttered, ‘Salaam to all who -believe Mohammed is the true prophet.’</p> - -<p>“At Assab they would not allow us to dip our vessels in -their well, nor take our repast under the shadow of their -Mosque: even the women of this village ventured to insult us, -peeping into our tent at night, and tumbling over the guys in a -manner most aggravating to the weary occupants.</p> - -<p>“Our troubles on this score were happily terminated at -Haura, where a huge castle belonging to the Al Kaiti family -dominates a humble village surrounded by palm groves. With<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75"></a>75</span>out -photographs to bear out my statement, I should hardly dare -to describe the magnificence of these castles in the Hadramaut. -That at Haura is seven stories high, and covers fully an acre -of ground beneath the beetling cliff, with battlements, towers, -and machicolations bearing a striking likeness to Holyrood. -But Holyrood is built of stone, and Haura, save for the first -story, is built of sun-dried bricks; and if Haura stood where -Holyrood does, or in any other country save dry, arid Arabia, -it would long ago have melted away....</p> - -<p>“One of the most striking features of these Arabian palaces -is the wood-carving. The doors are exquisitely decorated with -intricate patterns, and with a text out of the Koran carved on -the lintel; the locks and keys are all of wood, and form a study -for the carver’s art, as do the cupboards, the niches, the supporting -beams and the windows, which are adorned with fretwork -instead of glass. The dwelling-rooms are above, the -ground floor being exclusively used for merchandise, and the -first floor for the domestics.”</p> - -<p>Concerning the chief town of the interior of Hadramaut Mr. -Bent writes as follows:</p> - -<p>“Then he sent us to reside for five more days in his capital -of Shibam, which is twelve miles distant from Al Katan, and -is one of the principal towns in the Hadramaut valley. It is -built on rising ground in the centre of the narrowest point of -the valley, so that no one can pass between it and the cliffs of -the valley out of gunshot of the walls. This rising ground has -doubtless been produced by many generations of towns built of -sun-dried bricks, for it is the best strategical point in the neighborhood. -Early Arab writers tell us that the Himyarite population -of this district came here when they abandoned their -capital at Sabota, or Shabwa, further up the valley, early in our -era, but we found evident traces of an earlier occupation than -this—an inscription and a seal with the name ‘Shibam’ engraved -on it, which cannot be later than the third century, -<span class="allsmcap">B.C.</span> And as a point for making up the caravans which started<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76"></a>76</span> -from the frankincense-growing district, Shibam must always -have been very important.</p> - -<p>“The town of Shibam offers a curious appearance as you -approach; above its mud-brick walls with bastions and watch -towers appear the tall whitewashed houses of the wealthy, -which make it look like a large round cake with sugar on it. -Outside the walls several industries are carried on, the chief of -which is the manufacture of indigo dye. The small leaves are -dried in the sun and powdered and then put into huge jars—which -reminded us of the Forty Thieves—filled with water. -Next morning these are stirred with long poles, producing a -dark blue frothy mixture; this is left to settle, and then the indigo -is taken from the bottom and spread out on cloths to -drain; the substance thus procured is taken home and mixed -with dates and saltpetre. Four pounds of this indigo to a -gallon of water makes the requisite and universally used dye -for garments, the better class of which are calendered by beating -them with wooden hammers on stones.”</p> - -<p>Of the coast town of Shehr and its ruler Mr. Bent says:</p> - -<p>“Shehr is a detestable place by the sea, set in a wilderness -of sand. Once it was the chief commercial port of the Hadramaut -valley, but now Makalla has quite superseded it, for -Shehr is nothing but an open roadstead and its buildings are -now falling into ruins. Ghalib, the eldest son and heir of the -chief of the Al Kaiti family, rules here as the viceregent of his -father, who is in India as jemadar or general of the Arab -troops, chiefly all Hadrami, in the service of the Nizam of -Hyderabad. Ghalib is quite an Oriental dandy, who lived a -life of some rapidity when in India, so that his father thought -it as well to send him to rule in Shehr, where the capabilities -for mischief are not so many as at Bombay. He dresses very -well in various damask silk coats and faultless trousers; his -swords and daggers sparkle with jewels; in his hand he flourishes -a golden-headed cane; and, as the water is hard at Shehr, -he sends his dirty linen in dhows to Bombay to be washed.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77"></a>77</span></p> - -<p>The Arabs of Hadramaut have been still more in contact -with Java than with India. Large colonies of Hadramis emigrated -to the Dutch Archipelago more than a century ago; -intermarriage between the Javanese and the Arabs is very common; -and the Mohammedanism of the Dutch East Indies is -entirely of the Hadramaut type. These interesting facts were -first bought to light by Van den Berg, a Dutch scholar in his -elaborate work on this province of Arabia and the Arab colonies -in Java.<a id="FNanchor_28" href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> His account of Hadramaut is a compilation -from the lips of the Arab immigrants, but the description of -the manners and customs of the people and their religious -peculiarities is from personal observation. Altogether, in spite -of minor geographical inaccuracies, the book is the best single -volume on Southern Arabia and tells the story of Islam in the -Dutch Archipelago as it is to-day. The Arabs have always -been a strong race at colonizing but it is well to note that the -influence of Hadramaut on Java and Sumatra to-day is not -less than that of Oman on Zanzibar and East Africa in the last -century. Even Hadramaut will not always remain undiscovered -and unremembered. The incense-country of antiquity -has a future before it even as it has had a glorious past.</p> - -<p><a id="A_CASTLE_IN_HADRAMAUT"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp88" id="illus-077" style="max-width: 56.25em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-077.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">A CASTLE IN HADRAMAUT</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78"></a>78</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="VIII">VIII<br /> - -<small>MUSCAT AND THE COASTLANDS OF OMAN</small></h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Oman is separated from the rest of Arabia by a sandy desert. It is, -in fact, as far as communication with the rest of the world is concerned, -an island with the sea on one side and the desert on the other. Hence -its people are even more primitive, simple and unchanged in their habits -than the Arabs generally. Along the coast, however, especially at Muscat -they are more in contact with the outer world.”—<i>General Haig.</i></p></div> - - -<p>In Arab nomenclature Oman applies only to a small district -in the vicinity of Muscat, but the name is generally given -to the entire southeastern section of the Arabian peninsula, including -everything east of a line drawn from the Kuria-Muria -islands to the peninsula of Katar, anciently called Bahrein. -Thus defined it is the largest province of Arabia and in some -respects the most interesting. Historically, politically and -geographically Oman has always been isolated from the other -provinces. Turkish rule never extended this far nor did the -later caliphs long exercise their authority here. The whole -country has for centuries been under independent rulers called -Imams or Seyyids. The population, which is wholly Arab -and Mohammedan, (save in the coast towns) was derived -originally from two different stocks known to the Arabs as -Kahtani and Adnani or the Yemeni and Muadi. These names -have changed since the beginning of the eighteenth century to -Hinani and Ghaffiri. The Yemen tribes came first and are -most numerous. The two rival races have been in open and -continuous feud and antagonism and have kept the country in -perpetual turmoil. They even inhabit separate quarters in -some of the towns, according to Colonel Miles. In Somail, -about fifty miles inland from Muscat a broad road marks the -division between the two clans. These two parent stocks are<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79"></a>79</span> -subdivided into some 200 different tribes and these again into -sub-tribes or “houses.” Each family-group has its own -Sheikh, a hereditary position assumed by the eldest male in -the family.</p> - -<p>Very few of the tribes of Oman are nomadic; the greater -part live in towns and villages along the wady-beds. With -the exception of fruits of which there is a great variety and -abundance, dates are the sole food product and the chief export -of the province. Rice is imported from India. The total -population of Oman is estimated by Colonel Miles not to exceed -1,500,000. There are numerous towns of 5,000 to 10,000 -inhabitants; Muscat and Mattra are the chief towns on the -coast, and are practically united as they are only two miles -apart. The climate of Oman on the coast is excessively hot -and moist during a large part of the year, although the rainfall -here is only six to ten inches annually; in the interior the heat -is greatly tempered by the elevation, the rainfall is much -greater and the climate as pleasant as in the highlands of -Yemen.</p> - -<p>The Omanese state was at its greatest height of power at the -beginning of the present century. Then the Sultans of Muscat -exercised rule as far as Bahrein to the northwest, had possession -of Bunder Abbas and Linga in Persia, and called Socotra -and Zanzibar their own. At this time the Oman Arabs began -their extensive journeys in Africa and, urged by the enormous -profits of the slave-trade, explored every corner of the great interior -of the Dark Continent. At present the authority of the -Sultan at Muscat, Seyyid Feysul bin Turki, does not extend -far beyond the capital and its suburbs.</p> - -<p>In the early years of the Oman Sultanate, Nizwa was the -capital, afterward Rastak became the seat of government, but -since 1779, Muscat has been at once the capital and the key, -the gateway and the citadel of the whole country. On approaching -Muscat in a British India steamer, the land is first -sighted, looming up in one mass of dark mountain ranges;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80"></a>80</span> -closer, one portion of this mass directly over the town of Muscat -is seen to be of a dark brown color, crag on crag, serrated -and torn in a fantastic manner and giving the harbor a most -picturesque appearance. The town itself shows white against -the dark massive rocks, on the summits of which are perched -numerous castles and towers. But, though presenting a pleasing -prospect from a distance, a nearer view reveals the usual -features of large Oriental towns,—narrow, dirty streets, unattractive -buildings, and masses of crumbling walls under the -torrid heat of a burning sun and amid all the sweltering surroundings -of a damp climate.</p> - -<p>The heat of Muscat is proverbial. John Struys, the Dutchman, -who visited this town in 1672, wrote that it was “so incredibly -hot and scorching that strangers are as if they were in -boiling cauldrons or sweating tubs.” A Persian, named Abder-Razak, -being a Persian, was able to surpass all others in exaggerated -description and wrote of Muscat in 1442, “The -heat was so intense that it burned the marrow in the bones, the -sword in its scabbard melted like wax, and the gems that -adorned the handle of the dagger were reduced to coal. In -the plains the chase became a matter of perfect ease, for the -desert was filled with roasted gazelles!” It is said that a -black bulb thermometer has registered 189° F. in the sun at Muscat -and 107° even at night, is not unusual during the hottest -part of the year. The bare rocks form a parabolic mirror to -the sun’s rays from the south and west; add to this the facts -that the hills shut off the breezes and that Muscat lies on the -Tropic of Cancer in the zone of greatest heat. According to -the witness of a resident, “the climate of Muscat is bad beyond -all description. For about three months in the year, -from December to March, it is tolerably cool at night but after -the latter month the heat becomes intense and makes Muscat -rank but little after the Infernal Regions. There is a short -break in the hot weather about the middle of July which generally -lasts a month.”</p> - -<p><a id="THE_HARBOR_AND_CASTLE_AT_MUSCAT"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp99" id="illus-080a" style="max-width: 56.25em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-080a.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">THE HARBOR AND CASTLE AT MUSCAT</div> -</div> - - -<p><a id="READY_FOR_A_CAMEL_RIDE_IN_THE_DESERT"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp99" id="illus-080b" style="max-width: 56.25em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-080b.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">READY FOR A CAMEL RIDE IN THE DESERT</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81"></a>81</span></p> - -<p>The most conspicuous buildings of Muscat are the two forts, -the relics of the Portuguese dominion, which stand out boldly -on each side of the town about 100 feet above the sea. They -command not only the sea-approach, but the town itself and -are only accessible by a fine stairway cut out of the natural -rock. The guns that bristle from the forts are nearly all old -and comparatively harmless. Several of them are of brass and -bear the royal arms of Spain; one is dated 1606. In the fort -to the right of the harbor, one can still see the ruins of a -Portuguese chapel. When Pelly visited it in 1865 the following -inscription was legible.</p> - -<p> -AVE MAR. GRASA P._EA ☐s TECUM Etc.... -</p> - -<p>Its translation given by him reads: “Hail Mary full of -grace, the Lord is with thee. Don Phillip III., King of Spain, -Don Juan de Acuna of his council of war and his captain-general -of the artillery in the year 1605, in the eighth year of -his reign in the crown of Portugal, ordered through Don -Quarte Menezes, his commissioner of India, that this fortress -should be built.”</p> - -<p>The Sultan has also a town residence in half decay like all -the other stone-built but mud-cemented houses of the natives. -The only residences well-built and durable are those of the -British resident and the American consul. The former occupies -the choice location, in a rock cleft, where breezes blow -from two directions. The bazaar of Muscat has little to boast -of; one of the chief industries is the manufacture of <i>Hilawi</i> -or Muscat candy-paste, which to the acquired taste is delicious, -but to the stranger smells of rancid butter and tastes like sweet -wagon-grease.</p> - -<p>The town is cut off from the plain behind by a substantially -built wall which stretches from hill to hill. This wall is -pierced with two gates which are always guarded and closed a -couple of hours after sunset. The moat outside the wall is -dry. Beyond it are houses and hundreds of mat huts princi<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82"></a>82</span>pally -inhabited by Beluchis and Negroes. The American mission -house is also outside of the wall, in this quarter. About -a third of a mile beyond are the gardens of Muscat and the -wells, protected by a tower and guard. “The gardens” are -always visited at sunset by the strollers for exercise, but they -are hardly large enough “to supply a week’s food for 100 self-respecting -locusts of normal appetite.”</p> - -<p>The population of Muscat is of very mixed character, Arabs, -Beluchis, Banian-Traders, Negroes, Persians, and every other -nation that frequents this port of transit. The Arabic spoken -in all Oman is a dialect quite different from that of Nejd or -Yemen but the Arabic of Muscat is full of pigeon-English and -pigeon-Hindustani. The extensive and long intercourse with -Zanzibar and East Africa has also had its influence on the -speech and habits of the Muscat Arab trader. The present -trade is still very considerable, although less than a century -ago. It is mostly with India, there being little direct trade -with England. The chief exports are dates, fruit, shark-fins, -fish, and salt; the imports, rice, sugar, piece-goods, coffee, -silk, petroleum and arms. The largest export is of dates -which nearly all go to the American Market. Besides the -large number of steamers which call at this port, the native -merchants own several old British sailing vessels, some of them -noted clippers in their day, which make one or two voyages a -year and bring profit to their owners. Native boats also transport -cargoes landed at Muscat, to the less frequented ports. -This adds to the importance of Muscat as an <i>entrepôt</i> for -Oman. Mattra is the terminus of the caravan-routes from the -interior and is in communication with Muscat by a narrow -mountain path and by sea.</p> - -<p>The so-called Pirate coast stretches along the northern -boundary of Oman on the Persian Gulf from El Katar to -Ras Musendum and was, even as early as Ptolemy’s day, inhabited -by wild, lawless Arabs. On his map of Arabia they -are named <i>Ichthiophagoi</i>, or fish-eaters. Niebuhr wrote of this<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83"></a>83</span> -part of Oman, “Fishes are so plentiful upon the coast and so -easily caught, as to be used not only for feeding cows, asses, -and other domestic animals, but even as manure for the fields.” -Sir John Malcolm, in his quaint sketches of Persia wrote forty -years ago: “I asked who were the inhabitants of the barren -shore of Arabia that we saw. He answered with apparent -alarm, ‘they are of the sect of Wahabees and are called -Jowasimee. But God preserve us from them, for they are -monsters. Their occupation is piracy, and their delight murder, -and to make it worse they give you the most pious reasons -for every villainy they commit. They abide by the letter of -the sacred volume, rejecting all commentaries and traditions. -If you are their captive and offer all to save your life they say, -No! It is written in the Koran that it is not lawful to plunder -the living; but we are not prohibited from stripping the dead—so -saying they knock you on the head.’”</p> - -<p>Thanks to English commerce and gunboats these fanatic -Wahabis have become more tame, and most of them have long -given up piracy and turned to pearl-diving for a livelihood. -Hindu traders have settled among them, foreign commerce -reaches their bazaars, and the black tent is making room for -the three or four important towns of Dabai, Sharka, Abu -Thubi and Ras-el-Kheima, with growing population and increasing -wealth.</p> - -<p>The cape of Musendum and the land back of it, called -Ras-el-Jebel is very mountainous, but beyond Ras-el-Kheima, -the coast is low and flat all the way up the gulf. The -villages are all built near the entrance of salt-water creeks -or marshes, which serve as harbors at high-tide. For the most -part the coast is unfertile, but near Sharka there are palm-groves, -and further inland are oases. The islands off this coast -are most of them uninhabited.</p> - -<p>The Batina coast is the exception to all the maritime plains -that surround so large a part of the peninsula; in western and -eastern Arabia these low sandy plains are nearly barren of all<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84"></a>84</span> -vegetation, but here extensive date plantations and gardens extend -almost to the very ocean beach. Back of the rising plain are -the lofty ranges of Jebel Akhdar. This fertile coast begins at -Sib, about twenty-five miles from Muscat, and extends for 150 -miles to the neighborhood of Khor Kalba with an average -width of about twelve miles. It has many towns and villages; -the principal ones are the following. Sib is a scattered town -chiefly built of mat-huts with two small detached forts. It has -a very small bazaar, but extensive date-groves and gardens. -Back of Sib on the way up the coast one sees the great bluff of -Jebel Akhdar, 9,900 feet high, and visible over 100 miles out -at sea. Barka has a lofty Arab fortress, but for the rest mat-huts -among date-plantations characterize its general appearance. -Large quantities of shell fish are collected and sent -inland; the bazaar is good and some Banian traders are -settled here. Passing several islands the next town is Suaik. -After it the larger town of Sohar, with perhaps 4,000 people. -This town is walled with a high fort in the middle, the residence -of the Sheikh. A high conical peak, of light color, -rises conspicuously about twelve miles west of the town, and -with the surrounding date gardens and other trees makes a -pretty picture, altogether more green than one would expect -on Arabian coasts. Beyond Sohar the chief villages are, in -order, Shinas, Al Fujaira, Dibba. The two latter are already -beyond the Batina and are between the high cliffs and the deep -sea.</p> - -<p>Going from southeast Muscat down the coast toward Ras-el-Had -we first pass the little village of Sudab and Bunder -Jissa. The latter is of interest as the place the French were -trying to acquire for a coaling-station from the Sultan of Muscat -last year. It has a good anchorage, is only five miles from -Muscat, and an island precipice, 140 feet high, guards the entrance. -After this, Karyat, Taiwa, Kalhat and smaller villages -passed, we reach Sur. This large, double town is situated on a -khor or backwater, with two forts to the westward. The in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85"></a>85</span>habitants, -numbering perhaps 8,000, consist of two clans of -the Bni Bu Ali and the Bni Janaba, often at feud with each -other. The country inland is partly cultivated and date -groves abound. Sur has always been a place of trade and -enterprise and its buggalows visit India, Zanzibar and the -Persian Gulf. The people are all bold sailors since many -generations. But Sur also has the unenviable reputation of -being even now the centre of illicit slave-trading. Beyond -Sur is the headland of Jebel Saffan and Ras-el-Had, the easternmost -point of Arabia, almost reaching the sixtieth degree -of longitude.</p> - -<p>For a knowledge of the coast beyond Ras-el-Had we are indebted -to the papers of Assistant Surgeon H.J. Carter in the -journal of the Bombay branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.<a id="FNanchor_29" href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> -The two great Arab tribes that dwell on this coast are the -Mahrah and the Gharah; the former really belong to Hadramaut, -but the boundaries drawn on the maps are purely artificial -and have no significance. Neither tribe is dependent on -the Oman Sultan or acknowledges any allegiance to him. The -Mahrah are descended from the ancient Himyarites and occupy -a coast-line of nearly 140 miles from Saihut to Ras Morbat; -their chief town is Damkut (Dunkot) on Kamar bay. In -stature the Mahrahs are smaller than most Arabs, and by no -means handsome; in their peculiar mode of Bedouin salutation -they put their noses side by side and breathe softly! -They subsist by fishing and are miserably poor; their plains, -mountains and valleys, except close to Damkut, are sandy and -barren. Religion they have scarcely any, and Carter says that -they do not even know the Moslem prayers, and are utterly -ignorant of the teachings of Mohammed. Their dialect is soft -and sweet, and they themselves compare it to the language of -the birds; it is evidently a corrupted form of the ancient<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86"></a>86</span> -Himyaric and therefore of great importance in the study of -philology.<a id="FNanchor_30" href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> - -<p>The Gharah tribe inhabit the coast between Moseirah island -and the Kuria-Muria islands. Their country is mountainous -and cavernous and consists of a white stratified limestone formation -4,000 or 5,000 feet above the sea-level. The upper -part of the mountains are covered with good pasturage and -their slopes with a dense thicket of small trees among which -frankincense and other gum trees are plentiful. The whole -tribe are <i>troglodytes</i>, “cave-dwellers,” since nature gives them -better dwellings than the best mud-hut, and cooler than the -largest tent of Kedar. They are largely nomadic, however, -and shift from cave to cave in their wanderings. Their wardrobe -is not an incumbrance as it consists of a single piece of -coarse blue cotton wrapped around the loins like a short kilt. -The women wear a loose frock of the same texture and color -with wide sleeves, reaching a little below the knee in front and -trailing on the ground behind; the veil is unknown. Children -go about entirely naked. Both men and women tattoo their -cheeks. For weapons they have swords, spears, daggers, and -matchlocks. Their food consists of milk, flesh and honey with -the wild fruits of the mountains.</p> - -<p>This entire region has been justly celebrated for honey since -the days of the Greek geographers who enumerate honey and -frankincense as its chief products. The wild honey of South -Arabia collected from the rocks and packed in large dry gourds, -is fit for an epicure. On Ptolemy’s map of Arabia the region -inland from this coast is called <i>Libanotopheros Regio</i>, the place -of incense; and by Pliny is termed <i>regio thurifera</i>, the region -of frankincense. From the earliest times this has been the -country that produces real frankincense in abundance. Once -its export was a source of wealth to the inhabitants, for incense -was used in the temples of Egypt and India as well as by the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87"></a>87</span> -Jews, and by all the nations of antiquity. So important was this -commerce in the early history of the world that Sprenger devotes -several pages in his Ancient Geography of Arabia to describing -the origin, extent, and influence of frankincense on -civilization. The Arabs were then the general transport agents -between the east and the west, <i>i.e.</i>, India and Egypt. The -Queen of Sheba’s empire grew rich in frankincense-trade; she -brought to Solomon “spices in abundance,” nor was there -“any such spice” or brought in “such abundance” as that -which Queen Sheba gave to Solomon. (<span class="allsmcap">B.C.</span> cir. 992.)</p> - -<p>The rise of Islam, the overthrow of the old Himyarite kingdom, -the discovery of the passage round the Cape of Good -Hope, all these coöperated to destroy the ancient importance -and prosperity of Southern Arabia. At present, frankincense -is still exported, but not in large quantities. The gum is procured -by making incisions in the bark of the shrub in May and -December. On its first appearance it comes forth white as -milk, but soon hardens and discolors. It is then collected by -men and boys, employed to look after the trees by the different -families who own the land on which they grow.</p> - -<p><a id="A_BRANCH_OF_THE_INCENSE_TREE"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp94" id="illus-087" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-087.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">A BRANCH OF THE INCENSE TREE.</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88"></a>88</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="IX">IX<br /> - -<small>THE LAND OF THE CAMEL</small></h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“To see real live dromedaries my readers must, I fear, come to Arabia, -for these animals are not often to be met with elsewhere, not even in -Syria; and whoever wishes to contemplate the species in all its beauty, -must prolong his journey to Oman, which is for dromedaries, what Nejd -is for horses, Cashmere for sheep, and Tibet for bulldogs.”—<i>Palgrave.</i></p></div> - - -<p>All Oman, but especially the region just described, is called -among the Arabs <i>Um-el-ibl</i>, “mother of the camel.” -Palgrave, Doughty and other Arabian travellers agree that the -Oman dromedary is the prince of all camel-breeds, and -Doughty says they are so highly esteemed at Mecca as to fetch -three times the price of other camels.</p> - -<p>Unless one knows something about the camel one can neither -understand the Arab nor his language; without the camel, life -in a large part of Arabia would at present be impossible; without -the camel the Arabic language would be vastly different. -According to Hammer Purgstall, the Arabic dictionaries give -this animal 5,744 different names; there is not a page in the -lexicon but has some reference to the camel.</p> - -<p>The Arabs highly value the camel, but do not admire its -form and shape. There is an Arab tradition, cited in Burton’s -“Gold Mines of Midian,” to the effect that when Allah determined -to create the horse, He called the South Wind and said, -“I desire to draw from thee a new being, condense thyself by -parting with thy fluidity.” The Creator then took a handful -of this element, blew upon it the breath of life, and the noble -quadruped appeared. But the horse complained against his -Maker. His neck was too short to reach the distant grass -blades on the march; his back had no hump to steady a saddle; -his hoofs were sharp and sank deep into the sand; and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89"></a>89</span> -he added many similar grievances. Whereupon Allah created -the camel to prove the foolishness of his complaint. The horse -shuddered at the sight of what he wanted to become, and this -is the reason every horse starts when meeting its caricature for -the first time. The camel may not be beautiful, (although the -Arabic lexicon shows that the words for “<i>pretty</i>” and “<i>camel</i>” -are related) but he is surpassingly useful.</p> - -<p>This animal is found in Persia, Asia Minor, Afghanistan, -Beluchistan, Mongolia, Western China, Northern India, Syria, -Turkey, North Africa and parts of Spain, but nowhere so generally -or so finely developed as in Arabia. The two main -species, not to speak of varieties, are the Southern, Arabian -one-humped camel and the Northern, Bactrian two-humped -camel. Each is specially adapted to its locality. The Bactrian -camel is long-haired, tolerant of the intense cold of the -steppes and is said to eat snow when thirsty. The Arabian -species is short-haired, intolerant of cold, but able to endure -thirst and extreme heat. It is incredible to Arabs that any -camel-kind should have a double hump. A camel differs from -a dromedary in nothing save blood and breed. The camel is -a pack-horse; the dromedary a race-horse. The camel is -thick-built, heavy-footed, ungainly, jolting; the dromedary -has finer hair, lighter step, is easy of pace and more enduring -of thirst. A caravan of camels is a freight-train; a company -of Oman <i>thelul</i>-riders is a limited express. The ordinary caravan -travels six hours a day and three miles an hour, but a -good dromedary can run seventy miles a day on the stretch. -A tradesman from Aneyza told Doughty that he had ridden -from El Kasim to Taif and back, a distance of over 700 miles, -in fifteen days! Mehsan Allayda once mounted his dromedary -after the Friday midday prayer at El-Aly and prayed the next -Friday in the great Mosque at Damascus about 440 miles distant. -The Haj-road post-rider at Ma’an can deliver a message -at Damascus, it is said, at the end of three days; the distance -is over 200 miles.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90"></a>90</span></p> - -<p>The Arabs have a saying that “the camel is the greatest of -all blessings given by Allah to mankind.” One is not surprised -that the meditative youth of Mecca who led the camels -of Khadiyah, to Syria and back by the desert way, should -appeal to the unbelievers in Allah and His prophet in the -words, “<i>And do ye not look then at the camel how she is -created?</i>” (Surah lxxxviii. 17 of the Koran.)</p> - -<p>To describe the camel is to describe God’s goodness to the -desert-dwellers. Everything about the animal shows evident -design. His long neck, gives wide range of vision in desert -marches and enables him to reach far to the meagre desert -shrubs on either side of his pathway. The cartilaginous texture -of his mouth, enables him to eat hard and thorny plants—the -pasture of the desert. His ears are very small, and his nostrils -large for breathing, but are specially capable of closure by -valve-like folds against the fearful Simoon. His eyes are -prominent, but protected by a heavy overhanging upper-lid, -limiting vision upward thus guarding from the direct rays of -the noon sun. His cushioned feet are peculiarly adapted for -ease of the rider and the animal alike. Five horny pads are -given him to rest on when kneeling to receive a burden or for -repose on the hot sand. His hump is not a fictional but a <i>real</i> -and acknowledged reserve store of nutriment as well as nature’s -packsaddle for the commerce of ages. His water reservoirs in -connection with the stomach, enable him when in good condition -to travel for five days without water. Again, the camel -alone of all ruminants has incisor-teeth in the upper jaw, which, -with the peculiar structure of his other teeth, make his bite, -the animal’s first and main defence, most formidable. The -skeleton of the camel is full of proofs of design. Notice, for -example, the arched backbone constructed in such a way as -to sustain the greatest weight in proportion to the span of -the supports; a strong camel can bear 1,000 pounds’ weight, -although the usual load in Oman is not more than 600 pounds.</p> - -<p>The camel is a <i>domestic</i> animal in the full sense of the word,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91"></a>91</span> -for the Arabian domicile is indebted to the camel for nearly all -it holds. All that can be obtained from the animal is of value. -Fuel, milk, excellent hair for tents, ropes, shawls and coarser -fabrics are obtained from the living animal; and flesh-food, -leather, bones and other useful substances from the dead. -Even the footprints of the camel though soon obliterated, are -of special value in the desert. A lighter or smaller foot would -leave no tracks, but the camel’s foot leaves data for the Bedouin -science of <i>Athar</i>—the art of navigation for the ship of the -desert. Camel tracks are gossip and science, history and -philosophy to the Arab caravan. A camel-march is the standard -measure of distance in all Arabia; and the price of a milch-camel -the standard of value in the interior. When they have -little or no water the miserable nomads rinse their hands in -camel’s water and the nomad women wash their babes in it. -Camel’s-milk is the staple diet of thousands in Arabia even -though it be bitter because of wormwood pasturage.</p> - -<p>As to the character of the camel and its good or evil nature -authorities differ. Lady Ann Blunt considers the camel the -most abused and yet the most patient animal in existence. -Palgrave, on the other hand, thus describes the stupidity and -ugly temper of the beast: “I have, while in England, heard -and read more than once of the docile camel. If docile means -stupid, well and good; in such a case the camel is the very -model of docility. But if the epithet is intended to designate -an animal that takes an interest in its rider so far as a beast can, -that obeys from a sort of submissive or half fellow-feeling with -its master, like the horse and elephant, then I say that the -camel is by no means docile, very much the contrary. He -will never attempt to throw you off his back, such a trick being -far beyond his limited comprehension; but if you fall off, -he will never dream of stopping for you; and if turned loose -it is a thousand to one he will never find his way back to his -accustomed home or pasture. One only symptom will he give -that he is aware of his rider, and that is when the latter is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92"></a>92</span> -about to mount him, for on such an occasion, instead of addressing -him in the style of Balaam’s more intelligent beast, -‘Am not I thy camel upon which thou hast ridden ever since -I was thine unto this day?’ he will bend back his long snaky -neck toward his master, open his enormous jaws to bite, if he -dared, and roar out a tremendous sort of groan, as if to complain -of some entirely new and unparalleled injustice about to be -done him. In a word he is from first to last an undomesticated -and savage animal rendered serviceable by stupidity alone. -Neither attachment nor even habit can impress him; never -tame, though not wide-awake enough to be exactly wild.” -We can bear witness that the camels we have ridden in -Hassa and Yemen were altogether more kindly than the ugly -creature of Palgrave.</p> - -<p>The chief authorities on the interior of Oman were, until -recent date, Niebuhr, Wellsted (1835), Whitelock (1838), -Eloy (1843) and Palgrave, (1863). Palgrave, however, only -visited the coast and his account of the interior and its history -is pure romance. Later travellers have visited the chief cities -of Jebel Achdar and corroborated the accuracy of Lieutenant -Wellsted in his “Travels in Arabia.” Unfortunately Wellsted’s -acquaintance even with colloquial Arabic was very -limited and he frankly avows that he encountered serious difficulties -in understanding the people. “Wellsted’s map,” says -Badger, “is the only one of the province which we possess -drawn up from personal observation and ... it affords little -or no certain indication of the numerous towns and villages -beyond the restricted routes of the travellers. It is remarkable -and by no means creditable to the British Government in India, -that, notwithstanding our intimate political and commercial -relations with Oman, for the last century, we know actually -less of that country beyond the coast than we do of the Lake -districts of Africa.”<a id="FNanchor_31" href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> Badger wrote in 1860, but although -Colonel Miles and others have visited the region of Jebel<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93"></a>93</span> -Achdar, all the country beyond is still largely <i>terra incognita</i>. -No one has ever made the journey beyond the range of mountains -or solved the mystery of Western Oman, which is still a -blank on the best maps; nor do we know anything of the land -100 miles southwest of Muscat, save by Arab hearsay.</p> - -<p>The highlands of Oman may be divided into three districts; -<i>Ja’alan</i> from Jebel Saffan to Jebel Fatlah on the east. <i>Oman</i> -proper on the Jebel Achdar, and <i>Ez-Zahirah</i> on the eastern -slopes of Jebel Okdat. The most populous and fertile district -is that of Jebel Achdar which is also the best known. The fertility -of the whole region is wonderful and in striking contrast -with the barren rocks of so large a part of the coast. With a -semi-tropical climate, an elevation of 3,000 to 5,000 feet and -abundant springs the wadys and oases of Oman have awakened -the delight and amazement of every traveller who has ventured -to explore them. Water, the one priceless treasure in all -Arabia, here issues in perennial streams from many rocky clefts -and is most carefully husbanded by the ingenuity of the people, -for wide irrigation, by means of canals or watercourses called -<i>faluj</i>. Wellsted thus describes these underground aqueducts: -“They are as far as I know peculiar to this country, and are -made at an expense of labor and skill more Chinese than -Arabian. The greater part of the surface of the land being -destitute of running streams on the surface, the Arabs have -sought in elevated places for springs or fountains beneath it. -A channel from this fountain-head is then, with a very slight -descent, bored in the direction in which it is to be conveyed, -leaving apertures at regular distances to afford light and air to -those who are occasionally sent to keep it clean. In this -way the water is frequently conducted for a distance of six -or eight miles, and an unlimited supply is thus obtained. -These channels are about four feet broad and two feet deep -and contain a clear, rapid stream. Most of the large towns or -oases have four or five of these rivulets or <i>falj</i> (plural <i>faluj</i>) -running into them. The isolated spots to which water is thus<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94"></a>94</span> -conveyed, possess a soil so fertile that nearly every grain, fruit -or vegetable, common to India, Arab or Persia, is produced almost -spontaneously; and the tales of the oases will be no longer -regarded as an exaggeration, since a single step conveys the -traveller from the glare and sand of the desert into a fertile -tract, watered by a hundred rills, teeming with the most -luxurious vegetation.”</p> - -<p>The chief caravan routes inland start from the coast, at -Sohar through Wady-el-Jazy, at Suaik through Wady Thala, -at Barka or Sib through Wady Mithaal and Wady Zailah -(alternative routes) at Matra, by the same, and at Sur through -Wady Falj. On the eastern side of the mountain range the -chief towns are Rastak, Nakhl and Someil. On the farther -side we have Tenoof, Behilah and Nezwa, all large towns well-watered. -“Between these fertile oases one travels<a id="FNanchor_32" href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> sometimes -an entire day through stony wady, or over volcanic rock, -climbing a difficult mountain pass, or crossing a wide sea-like -desert, without seeing a habitation or meeting a fellow-creature -except an occasional caravan. Their rifles are swung over the -shoulders of the riders, and their wild song keeps time with the -slow tread of the camels....</p> - -<p>“From Nakhl it is a long day’s journey to Lihiga at the -foot of Jebel Achdar. Two other beautifully situated mountain -villages, Owkan and Koia are in close proximity. Here, -as well as on the mountains, dwells a tribe of hardy mountaineers, -the Bni Ryam. In features and habits this tribe is -quite distinct from the other Oman tribes. All over these -mountains the people lead a peaceful life, and the absence of -fire-arms was noticeable in comparison with the valley tribes, -where each man carries his rifle, often of the best English or -German pattern.</p> - -<p>“From Lihiga we began the ascent, and after a half-a-day<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95"></a>95</span> -of most difficult climbing, reached the top of the pass at noonday, -my barometer registering 7,050 feet. Here on a level -projecting rock, which afforded a splendid extended view of -the Wady Mestel, where dwell the Bni Ruweihah, we had our -lunch, and were glad to slake our thirst out of the goatskin -the guide carried on his shoulder. From the top of the pass -we descended to the level table-land at a height of 6,200 feet, -and at sunset reached the ideally beautiful village of Sheraegah. -It is in a circular ravine several hundred feet in depth, and like -a huge amphitheatre where grow in terraces, apples, peaches, -pomegranates, grapes and other temperate products in rich -profusion. Ice and snow are frequently seen here during the -winter, and in summer the temperature registers no higher than -80°F. In March we had a temperature of 40°, and enjoyed -a huge fire in the guest-room where a hundred Arabs came to -visit us, and entertained us with the recitation of Arabic -poetry. Such an opportunity was not to be neglected, and -they, as an agricultural people, were interested in the parable of -the Sower and the explanation....</p> - -<p><a id="TENOOF_FROM_THE_EAST"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-095" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-095.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">TENOOF FROM THE EAST.<br /> -From a pencil sketch by Peter J. Zwemer.</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96"></a>96</span></p> - -<p>“We pressed on over the most difficult mountain roads to -Tenoof, at the foot of the mountains on the further side. -Nizwa, the old capital of Oman, is but three hours’ journey -from Tenoof. It has a large circular fort about 200 feet in -diameter, built of rough hewn stone and cement. We intended -to return to Muscat along the valley road via Someil, but the -state of affairs at Nezwa made roads through hostile territory -unsafe, and we decided to recross the mountains, enjoying -again their cool climate and the friendliness of the people. By -riding long camel-stages and taking short rests, we were able to -reach Muscat from the top of the mountains in four days, having -been absent on the journey twenty-one days.”</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97"></a>97</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="X">X<br /> - -<small>THE PEARL ISLANDS OF THE GULF</small></h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“‘We are all from the highest to the lowest slaves of one master—Pearl,’ -said Mohammed bin Thanee to me one evening; nor was the expression -out of place. All thought, all conversation, all employment, -turns on that one subject, everything else is mere by-game, and below -even secondary consideration.”—<i>Palgrave.</i></p></div> - - -<p>Half way down the Persian Gulf, off the east Arabian -coast, between the peninsula of El Katar and the Turkish -province of El Hassa, are the islands of Bahrein.<a id="FNanchor_33" href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> This name -was formerly applied to the entire triangular projection on the -coast between the salt-sea of the gulf and the fresh water flood -of the Euphrates; hence its name <i>Bahr-ein</i> “the two seas.” -But since the days of Burckhardt’s map the name is restricted -to the archipelago. The larger island is itself often called -Bahrein, while the next in size is named Moharrek—“place of -burning.” The Arabs say that this was so named because the -Hindu traders used it for cremating their dead.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98"></a>98</span></p> - -<p><a id="MAP_OF_THE_ISLANDS_OF_BAHREIN"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp51" id="illus-098" style="max-width: 75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-098.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">MAP OF THE ISLANDS OF BAHREIN.</div> -</div> - -<p>The main island is about twenty-seven miles in length from -north to south, and ten miles in breadth. Toward the centre -there is a slightly elevated table-land, mostly barren. Twelve -miles from the northern end is a clump of dark volcanic hills, -400 feet high, called Jebel Dokhan, “Mountain of Smoke.” -The northern half of the island is well watered by abundant -fresh-water springs, always lukewarm in temperature. This -part of the island is covered with beautiful gardens of date<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99"></a>99</span>-palms, -pomegranate, and other trees. The coast is everywhere -low, and the water shallow for a long distance. There is no -pier or jetty anywhere, so that, except at high water, boats -anchor nearly a quarter of a mile from the shore.</p> - -<p>The total population of the islands is estimated at nearly -60,000, all of them Moslems with the exception of about 100 -Banian traders from Sindh, India. Menamah, the large town -on the northeast point of the island, with perhaps 10,000 inhabitants, -is built along the shore for about a mile; the houses -are mostly poor, many being mere mat-huts. This town is the -market-place and commercial centre for the whole group. -Here is the post office and custom-house and here the bulk of -the trade is carried on for the whole island. A short distance -from Menamah is the old town of Belad le Kadim, with ruins -of better buildings and a fine mosque with two minarets. The -mosque is of very early date, for the older Cufic character is on -all its inscriptions, covered over in some places by more recent -carving and inscriptions in later Arabic.</p> - -<p>The largest spring on the islands is called El Adhari, “the -virgins.” It issues from a reservoir thirty yards across, and at -least thirty feet deep, flowing in a stream six or eight feet wide -and two feet deep. This is remarkable for Arabia, and gives -some idea of the abundant supply of water. Under the sea, -near the island of Moharrek, are fresh-water springs always -covered with a fathom of salt water. The natives lower a hollow, -weighted bamboo through which the fresh water gushes out -a few inches above sea-level. The source of these fresh-water -springs of Bahrein must be on the mainland of Arabia, as all -the opposite coast shows a similar phenomena. Apparently -the <i>River Aftan</i> marked on old maps of the peninsula as -emptying into the Persian Gulf near Bahrein was an <i>underground -river</i>, known to the older geographers.</p> - -<p>If Egypt is the gift of the Nile, Bahrein may well be called -the gift of the pearl-oyster. Nothing else gave the islands -their ancient history, and nothing so much gives them their<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100"></a>100</span> -present importance. The pearl-fisheries are the one great industry -of Bahrein. They are carried on every year from June -until October, and even for a longer period, if hot weather sets -in earlier. Nearly all the island population are engaged in the -work in some way, and during the season there is only one -topic of conversation in the coffee-shops and the evening-mejlis,—<span class="allsmcap">PEARLS</span>. -The pearl has this distinction above all -other precious stones, that it requires no human hand to bring -out its beauties. By modern scientists, pearls are believed to -be the result of an abnormal secretion, caused by the irritation -of the mollusk’s shell by some foreign substance—in short, a -disease of the pearl-oyster. But it is not surprising that the -Arabs have many curious superstitions as to the cause of pearl-formation. -Their poets tell of how the monsoon rains falling -on the banks of Ceylon and Bahrein find chance lodgment in -the opened mouth of the pearl-oyster. Each drop distills a -gem, and the size of the raindrop determines the luck of the -future diver. Heaven-born and cradled in the deep blue sea, -it is the purest of gems and, in their eyes, the most precious.</p> - -<p><a id="THE_VILLAGE_OF_MENAMAH"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-100a" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-100a.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">THE VILLAGE OF MENAMAH, BAHREIN ISLANDS.</div> -</div> - -<p>Not only in its creation, but in its liberation from its prison-house -under ten fathoms of water the pearl costs pain and sacrifice. -So far as this can be measured in pounds, shillings and -pence, this cost is easy of computation. The total value of -pearls exported from Bahrein in 1896 was £303,941 sterling -($1,500,000). The number of boats from Bahrein engaged -in the fisheries is about nine hundred and the cost of bringing -one boat’s share to the surface is 4,810 rupees (about $1,600).<a id="FNanchor_34" href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> -Hundreds of craft also come to the oyster-banks from other -ports on the gulf. It is scarcely necessary to say that the -pearl divers do not receive the amount fairly due them for their -toil. They are one and all victims of the “truck-system” in -its worst form, being obliged to purchase all supplies, etc.,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101"></a>101</span> -from their masters. They are consequently so much in debt -to him as often to make them practically his slaves. The boats -are generally owned by the merchants, and the crew are paid -at a low rate for a whole year’s work, only receiving a small -extra allowance when they bring up pearls of special size or -brilliancy. In the winter season these divers are out of work, -and consequently incur large debts which are charged to the -next season’s account. By force of circumstances and age-long -practice the islanders are also much given to the vice of -gambling on the market. Even the poorest fisherman will lay -his wager—and lose it. It is not the thirty thousand fishermen -of the gulf with their more than five thousand boats who grow -rich in the pearl-fishing business; the real profit falls to those -who remain on shore—the Arab and Hindu brokers of Bombay -who deal direct with Berlin, London and Paris. A pearl often -trebles in value by changing hands, even before it reaches the -Bombay market.</p> - -<p><a id="A_BAHREIN_HARBOR_BOAT"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp99" id="illus-100b" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-100b.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">A BAHREIN HARBOR BOAT.</div> -</div> - -<p>The divers follow the most primitive method in their work. -Their boats are such as their ancestors used before the Portuguese -were expelled from Bahrein in 1622. Even Sinbad the -sailor might recognize every rope and the odd spoon-shaped -oars. These boats are of three kinds, very similar in general -appearance, but differing in size, called <i>Bakāre</i>t, <i>Shua´ee</i> and -<i>Bateel</i>.<a id="FNanchor_35" href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> All of the boats have good lines and are well-built -by the natives from Indian timber. For the rest, all is of -Bahrein manufacture except their pulley-blocks, which come -from Bombay. Sailcloth is woven at Menamah and ropes are -twisted of date-fibre in rude rope-walks which have no machinery -worth mentioning. Even the long, soft iron nails that -hold the boats together are hammered out on the anvil one by -one by Bahrein blacksmiths.</p> - -<p>Each boat has a sort of figure-head, called the <i>kubait</i>, generally -covered with the skin of a sheep or goat which was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102"></a>102</span> -sacrificed when the boat was first launched. This is one of the -Semitic traits which appear in various forms all over Arabia—blood-sacrifice—and -which has Islam never uprooted. All the -fishermen prefer to go out in a boat which has cut a covenant -of blood with Neptune. The larger boats used in diving hold -from twenty to forty men, less than half of whom are divers, -while the others are rope-holders and oarsmen. One man in -each boat is called <i>El Mŭsŭlly</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, the one-who-prays, because -his sole daily duty is to take charge of the rope of any -one who stops to pray or eat. He has no regular work, and -when not otherwise engaged vicariously mends ropes and sails -or cooks the rice and fish over charcoal embers. He is therefore -also called <i>El Gillās</i>, “the sitter,” very suggestive of his -sinecure office.</p> - -<p>The divers wear no elaborate diving-suit, but descend -clothed only in their <i>fitaam</i> and <i>khabaat</i>. The first is a true -<i>pince-nez</i> or clothespin-like clasp for their nostrils. It is -made of two thin slices of horn fastened together with a rivet -or cut out whole in a quarter circle so as to fit the lower -part of the nose and keep out the water. It has a perforated -head through which a string passes and which suspends it from -the divers neck when not in use. <i>Khabaat</i> are “finger-hats” -made of leather and thrice the length of an ordinary thimble. -They are worn to protect the fingers in gathering the pearl-shells -from the sea-bottom; at the height of the pearl season -large baskets full of all sizes of these finger-caps are exposed -for sale in the bazaar. Each diver uses two sets (<i>twenty</i>) in a -season. A basket, called <i>dajeen</i>, and a stone-weight complete -the diver’s outfit. This stone, on which the diver stands when -he plunges down feet-first, is fastened to a rope passing between -his toes and is immediately raised; another rope is attached -to the diver and his basket by which he gives the signal -and is drawn up. The best divers remain below only two or -three minutes at most, and when they come up are nine-tenths -suffocated. Many of them are brought up unconscious and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103"></a>103</span> -often cannot be brought to life. Deafness, and suppuration of -the ear, due to carelessness or perforated ear-drums, caused by -the enormous pressure of the water at such depths, are common -among divers. Rheumatism and neuralgia are universal -and the pearl-fishers are the great exception among the Arabs -in not possessing beautiful teeth.</p> - -<p>Sharks are plentiful and it is not a rare thing for them to attack -divers. But the Bahrein divers are more fearful of a -small species of devil-fish which lays hold of any part of the -body and draws blood rapidly. Against this monster of the -sea they guard themselves by wearing an “overall” of white -cloth during the early part of the season when it frequents the -banks. Their tales of horror regarding the devil-fish equal -those of Victor Hugo in his “Toilers of the Sea.”</p> - -<p>The divers remain out in their boats as long as their supply -of fresh water lasts, often three weeks or even more. Sir -Edwin Arnold’s lines are thus not as correct as they are beautiful:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Dear as the wet diver to the eyes</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of his pale wife who waits and weeps on shore</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By sands of Bahrein in the Persian Gulf;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Plunging all day in the blue waves; at night,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Having made up his tale of precious pearls,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Rejoins her in their hut upon the shore.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>When the pearl-oysters are brought up they are left on deck -over night and the next morning are opened by means of a -curved knife, six inches long, called <i>miflaket</i>. Before the days -of English commerce the mother-of-pearl was thrown away as -worthless. Now it has a good market-value and (after being -scraped free of the small parasites that infest the outer shell) is -packed in wooden crates and exported in large quantities. The -total value of this export in 1897 was £5,694 ($28,000). -The Arabs have asked me in amazement what in the world the -“Franks” do with empty sea-shells; and some tell idle tales of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104"></a>104</span> -how they are ground up into pearl dust and pressed into artificial -gems, or are used as a veneer to cover brick houses.</p> - -<p>On shore the pearls are classified by the merchants, according -to weight, size, shape, color and brilliancy. There are -button-pearls, pendants, roundish, oval, flat, and perfect -pearls; pearls, white, yellow, golden, pink, blue, azure, green, -grey, dull and black; seed-pearls the size of grains of sand -and pearls as large as an Arab’s report, emphasized with frequent -<i>wallahs</i>, can make them. I have seen a pendant pearl -the size of a hazelnut worth a few thousand rupees but there -are Arabs who will swear by the prophet’s beard (each hair of -which is sacred!) that they have brought up pearls as large as -a pigeon’s egg. The pearl brokers carry their wares about tied -in bags of turkey-red calico; they weigh them in tiny brass -scales and learn their exact size by an ingenious device consisting -of a nest of brass sieves, called <i>taoos</i>, six in number, -with apertures slightly differing in size. The pearls are put -into the largest sieve first; those that do not fall through its -pea-sized holes are called, <i>Ras</i>, “chief”; such are generally -pearls of great price, although their value depends most on -weight and perfection of form. The second size is called -<i>Batu</i>, “belly,” and the third <i>Dhail</i>, “tail.” Color has only a -fashion-value; Europe prefers white and the Orient the golden-yellow; -black pearls are not highly esteemed by Orientals.</p> - -<p>Before they are shipped the large pearls are cleaned in <i>reeta</i> -a kind of native soap-powder, and the smaller ones in soft -brown sugar; then they are tied up in calico and sold in lots -by weight, each bundle being supposed to contain pearls of -average equal value. How it is possible to collect custom dues -on <i>pearls</i> among a people whose consciences rival their wide -breast-pockets in concealing capacity, surpasses comprehension. -But the thing is done, for the farmer of the custom dues grows -rich and the statistics of export are not pure guess-work.</p> - -<p>The Bahrein islands also produce quantities of dates, and there -is an export trade in a remarkably fine breed of asses, celebrated<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105"></a>105</span> -all over the Persian Gulf. A good Bahrein donkey is easy to -ride and almost as good a roadster as an average horse. The -only manufactures, beside sail-sheeting, are coarse cloth for -turbans, and reed-mats of very fine texture. The chief imports -are rice, timber and piece-goods for which Bahrein is the -depot for all eastern Arabia. Three sights are shown to the -stranger-tourist to the islands of Bahrein: the pearl-fisheries, -the fresh-water springs, and the ancient ruins of an early civilization -at the village of Ali. These ruins are the “<i>bayoot el -owalin</i>” the dwellings of the first inhabitants, who are believed -to have been destroyed by Allah because of their wickedness. -An hour’s ride through the date gardens and past the minarets -brings us to the village of Ali. It can generally be seen from -a good distance because of the smoke which rises from the -huge ovens where pottery is baked. The potter turns his -wheel to-day and fashions the native water-jars with deft hand -utterly ignorant and careless of the curious sepulchral tumuli -which cast their shade at his feet. South and west of the -village the whole plain is studded with mounds, at least three -hundred of them, the largest being about forty feet in height. -Only two or three have ever been opened or explored. Theodore -Bent in company with his wife explored these in 1889, -with meagre results, but no further investigations have been -made though it is a field that may yet yield large results. -M. Jules Oppert, the French Assyriologist, and others regard the -island as an extremely old centre of civilization and it is now -well known that the first settlements from ancient Babylonia -were in the Persian Gulf which then extended as far north as -Mugheir, near Suk-es Shiukh. But those first settlers probably -went to the coasts of Africa and to the kingdoms of Southern -Arabia, in which case Bahrein was on their line of travel. It -must always have been a depot for shipping because of its -abundant water-supply in a region where fresh-water is generally -scarce. The mounds at Ali probably date from this -very early period; although no corroboration in the shape of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106"></a>106</span> -cylinders or bricks bearing inscriptions has yet been found, the -character of the structures found in the mounds is undoubted -proof of their great antiquity.</p> - -<p>The larger mound opened by Bent, now consists of two -rock-built chambers of very large stones, square masonry, and -no trace of an arch or a pillar. The lower chamber is twenty-eight -feet in length, five feet in width, and eight feet high; it -has four niches or recesses about three feet deep, two at the end -of the passage and two near its entrance. The upper chamber -is of the same length as the lower, but its width is six -inches less, and its height only four feet eight inches. The -lower passage is hand plastered as an impression of the mason’s -hand on the side wall still proves. If diggings were -made <i>below</i> the mounds or other mounds were opened better -results might follow, and perhaps inscriptions or cylinders -would be discovered. A year or two ago a jar containing a -large number of gold coins was found near Ali by some native -workmen; these however were Cufic and of a much later -period than the mounds. Near Yau and Zillag, on the other -side of the island there are also ruins and very deep wells cut -through solid rock with <i>deep</i> rope-marks on the curbing; perhaps -these also are of early date. On the island of Moharrek -there is a place called <i>Ed Dair</i>, “the monastery” with ruins -of what the Arabs call a church; whether this is of Portuguese -date like the castle or goes back to a much earlier period -before Mohammed, we cannot tell.</p> - -<p>The climate of Bahrein is not as bad as it is often described -by casual visitors. No part of the Persian Gulf can be called -a health resort, but neither is the climate unhealthful at all -seasons of the year. In March and April, October, November -and December the weather is delightful, indoor temperatures -seldom rising above 85° F., or falling below 60° F. When -north winds blow in January and February it is often cold -enough for a fire; these are the rainy months of the year and -least healthful, especially to the natives in their badly-built<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107"></a>107</span> -mat-huts. From May to September inclusive is the hot season, -although the nights remain cool and the heat is tempered by -sea-breezes (called, <i>El Barih</i>), until the middle of June. -Heavy dews at night are common and make the atmosphere -murky and oppressive when there is no sea-breeze. Land-breezes -from the west and south continue irregularly throughout -the entire summer. When they fail the thermometer leaps -to over one hundred and remains there day and night until the -ripples on the stagnant, placid sea proclaim a respite from the -torture of sweltering heat. A record of temperature, kept at -Menamah village in the summer of 1893, shows a minimum -indoor temperature of 85° and a maximum of 107°F., in the -shade. The prevailing wind at Bahrein, and in fact all over -the Gulf, is the <i>shemmāl</i> or Northwester changing its direction -slightly with the trend of the coast. The air during a shemmāl -is generally very dry and the sky cloudless, but in winter -they are sometimes at first accompanied by rain-squalls. In -winter they are very severe and endanger the shipping. The -only other strong wind is called <i>kaus</i>; it is a southeaster and -blows irregularly from December to April. It is generally accompanied -by thick, gloomy weather, with severe squalls and -falling barometer. The saying among sailors that “there is always -too much wind in the Gulf or none at all,” is very true -of Bahrein.</p> - -<p>This saying holds true also of the political history of the -Gulf. Bahrein, because of its pearl-trade has ever been worth -contending for and it has been a bone of contention among the -neighboring rulers ever since the naval battle fought by the -early inhabitants against the Romans. After Mohammed’s -day the Carmathians overran the islands. Portuguese, Arabs -from Oman, Persians, Turks and lastly the English have each -in turn claimed rule or protection over the archipelago. It is -sufficient to note here that in 1867, ’Isa bin Ali (called <i>Esau</i> in -Curzon’s “Persia,” as if the name came from Jacob’s brother -instead of the Arab form of Jesus!) was appointed ruling<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108"></a>108</span> -Sheikh by the British who deposed his father Mohammed bin -Khalifa for plotting piracy.</p> - -<p>The present Sheikh is a typical Arab and spends most of his -time in hawking and the chase; the religious rule, which in a -Moslem land means the judicial and executive department, -rests with the <i>Kadi</i> or Judge. There is no legislature as the -law was laid down once for all in the Koran and the traditions. -The administration of <i>justice</i> is rare. Oppression, blackmail -and bribery are universal; and, except in commerce and the -slave-trade, English protection has brought about no reforms -on the island. To be “protected” means here strict neutrality -as to the internal affairs and absolute dictation as to affairs -with other governments. To “protect” means to keep -matters in <i>status quo</i> until the hour is ripe for annexation. -Sometimes the process from the one to the other is so gradual -as to resemble growth; in such a case it would be correct to -speak of the growth of the British Empire.</p> - -<p>Contact with Europeans and western civilization has, however, -done much for Bahrein in the matter of disarming prejudice -and awakening the sluggish mind of the Arab to look -beyond his own “Island of the Arabs.” Even as early as -1867, Palgrave could write: “From the maritime and in a -manner central position of Bahreyn my readers may of themselves -conjecture that the profound ignorance of Nejd regarding -Europeans and their various classifications is here exchanged -for a partial acquaintance with those topics; thus, -English and French, disfigured into the local <i>Ingleez</i> and -<i>Francees</i> are familiar words at Menamah, though Germans and -Italians, whose vessels seldom or never visit these seas, have as -yet no place in the Bahreyn vocabulary; while Dutch and -Portuguese seem to have fallen into total oblivion. But Russians -or <i>Moskop</i>, that is Muscovites, are alike known and -feared, thanks to Persian intercourse and the instinct of nations. -Beside the policy of Constantinople and Teheran are -freely and at times sensibly discussed in these coffee-houses no<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109"></a>109</span> -less than the stormy diplomacy of Nejd and her dangerous encroachments.”</p> - -<p>To the Bahrein Arabs Bombay is the centre of the world of -civilization, and he who has seen that city is distinguished as -knowing all about the ways of foreigners. So anxious are the -boys for a trip on the British India steamer to this Eldorado of -science and mystery that they sometimes run from home and -go as stowaways or beg their passage. This close contact -with India has had its effect on the Arabic spoken on the -island which, although not a dialect, is full of Hindustani -words. Of late years there has been a considerable Persian -immigration into Bahrein from the coast between Lingah and -Bushire, and next to Arabic, Persian is the language most in -use.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110"></a>110</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XI">XI<br /> - -<small>THE EASTERN THRESHOLD OF ARABIA</small></h2></div> - - -<p>Beyond Bahrein the mainland stretches westward for -eight hundred miles across the province of Hassa and -lower Nejd and Hejaz to the Red Sea. As Jiddah is the western -port, Bahrein is the eastern port for all Arabia. It is the gateway -to the interior, the threshold of which is Hassa. Draw a -line from Menamah to Katif, then on to Hofhoof (or El Hassa) -and thence back to Menamah, and the triangle formed will include -every important town or village of Eastern Arabia. -North of that triangle on the coast is the inhospitable barren, -thinly populated, country of the Bni Hajar; south of it is the -peninsula of El Katar; westward stretches the sandy desert -for five days’ marches to Riad and the old Wahabi country. -The region thus bounded is really the whole of Hassa, although -on maps that name is given to the whole coast as far as Busrah. -But neither the authority of the Turkish government nor the -significance of the word <i>Hassa</i> (low, moist ground) can be -said to extend outside of the triangle.</p> - -<p>The peninsula of El Katar, about 100 miles long and fifty -broad, is unattractive in every way and barren enough to be -called a desert. Palgrave’s pen-picture cannot be improved -upon: “To have an idea of Katar my readers must figure to -themselves miles on miles of low barren hills, bleak and sun-scorched, -with hardly a single tree to vary the dry monotonous -outline; below these a muddy beach extends for a quarter -of a mile seaward in slimy quicksands, bordered by a rim of -sludge and seaweed. If we look landwards beyond the hills -we see what by extreme courtesy may be called pasture land, -dreary downs with twenty pebbles for every blade of grass;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111"></a>111</span> -and over this melancholy ground scene, but few and far between, -little clusters of wretched, most wretched earth cottages -and palm-leaf huts, narrow, ugly and low; these are the -villages, or ‘towns’ (for so the inhabitants style them) of -Katar. Yet poor and naked as is the land it has evidently -something still poorer and nakeder behind it, something in -short even more devoid of resources than the coast itself, and -the inhabitants of which seek here by violence what they cannot -find at home. For the villages of Katar are each and all -carefully walled in, while the downs beyond are lined with -towers and here and there a castle, huge and square with its -little windows and narrow portals.”</p> - -<p><a id="NEIBUHRS_MAP_OF_THE_PERSIAN_GULF"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-110" style="max-width: 150em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-110.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">NEIBUHR’S MAP OF THE PERSIAN GULF.</div> -</div> - -<p>The population of Katar is not large; its principal town is -Bedaa’. All the inhabitants live from the sea by pearl-diving -and fishing, and in the season send out two hundred boats. -The whole peninsula with its wild Bedouin population is -claimed by Turkey and is the dread of the miserable soldiers -who are sent there to preserve peace and draw precarious pay -while they shake with malaria and grow homesick for Bagdad. -The Arabs are always at feud with the government and it is -very unsafe outside the walls after sunset.</p> - -<p>The usual route from Bahrein to the interior of Hassa is to -cross over by boat to Ojeir on the mainland, and thence to -travel by caravan to Hofhoof. In October, 1893, I took this -route, returning from the capital to Katif and thence back to -Menamah. Embarking at sunset we landed at Ojeir before -dawn the next day and I found my way to a Turkish custom-house -officer to whom I had a friendly letter from a Bahrein -merchant. Ojeir, although it has neither a bazaar nor any -settled population, has a mud-fort, a dwarf flagstaff and an imposing -custom-house. The harbor although not deep is protected -against north and south winds and is therefore a good -landing-place for the immense quantity of rice and piece-goods -shipped from Bahrein into the interior. A caravan of from -two to three hundred camels leaves Ojeir every week. For<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112"></a>112</span> -although the Jebel Shammar country is probably supplied overland -from Busrah and Bagdad, the whole of Southern Nejd receives -piece-goods, coffee, rice, sugar and Birmingham wares -by way of Bahrein and Ojeir.</p> - -<p>The whole plain in and about the custom-house was piled -with bales and boxes and the air filled with the noise of loading -seven hundred camels. I struck a bargain with Salih, a -Nejdi, to travel in his party and before noon-prayers we were -off. The country for many hours was bare desert, here and -there a picturesque ridge of sand, and in one place a vein of -greenish limestone. When night came we all stretched a -blanket on the clean sand and slept in the open air; those who -had neglected their water-skins on starting now satisfied thirst -by scooping a well with their hands three or four feet deep and -found a supply of water. During the day the sun was hot and -the breeze died away; but at night, under the sparkling stars -and with a north wind it seemed, by contrast, bitterly cold. -On the second day at noon we sighted the palm-forests that -surround Hofhoof and give it, Palgrave says, “the general -aspect of a white and yellow onyx chased in an emerald rim” -As we did not reach the “emerald rim” until afternoon I -concluded to remain at Jifr, one of the many suburb villages. -Here Salih had friends, and a delicious dinner of bread, butter, -milk and dates, all fresh, was one of many tokens of hospitality. -At sunset we went on to the next village, Menazeleh, -a distance of about three miles through gardens and rushing -streams of tepid water. The next morning early we again rode -through gardens and date-orchards half visible in the morning -mist. At seven o’clock the mosques and walls of Hofhoof appeared -right before us as the sun lifted the veil; it was a beautiful -sight.</p> - -<p>El Hofhoof can claim a considerable age. Under the -name of Hajar, it was next to Mobarrez, the citadel town of the -celebrated Bni Kindi and Abd El Kais (570 <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span>) Both of -these towns, and in fact every village of Hassa, owe their<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113"></a>113</span> -existence to the underground watercourses, which are the -chief characteristic of the province; everywhere there is the -same abundance of this great blessing. A land of streams and -fountains,—welling up in the midst of the salt sea, as at -Bahrein; flowing unknown and unsought under the dry desert -at Ojeir; bubbling up in perennial fountains as at Katif; or -bursting out in seven hot springs that flow, cooling, to bless -wide fields of rice and wheat at Mobarrez. The entire region -is capable of rich cultivation, and yet now more than half of it -is desert. There is not a man to till the ground, and paradise -lies waste except near the villages. Elsewhere Bedouin robbers -and Turkish taxes prevent cultivation. <i>These two are the -curse of agriculture all over the Ottoman provinces of Arabia.</i></p> - -<p><a id="PALGRAVES_PLAN_OF_HOFHOOF"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-113" style="max-width: 75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-113.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">PALGRAVE’S PLAN OF HOFHOOF.</div> -</div> - -<p>Hofhoof itself is surrounded by gardens, and its plan gives -a good idea of the general character of the towns of Arabia. -A castle or ruler’s house; a bazaar with surrounding dwellings -and a mud-wall built around to protect the whole. The moat<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114"></a>114</span> -is now dry and half filled in with the débris of the walls, which -are not in good repair. The town is nearly a mile and a-half -across at its greater diameter, but the houses are not built as -close together as is the custom in most Oriental towns; here is -the pleasant feature of gardens <i>inside</i> the walls. The date-palm -predominates, and indeed comes to wonderful perfection, -but the nabak, the papay, the fig and the pomegranate are also -in evidence. Indigo is cultivated, and also cotton, while all the -region round about is green with fields of rice and sugar-cane -and vegetables,—onions, radishes, beans, vetches, and maize.</p> - -<p>The population of the city is entirely Moslem, except one -Roman Catholic Christian, who is the Turkish doctor, and -a half dozen Jews. The three Europeans who have previously -visited and described Hofhoof are, Captain Sadlier (1819), -Palgrave (1863), and Colonel Pelly (1865). The first gives the -population at 15,000 and Palgrave speaks of 20,000 to 30,000. -In 1871 when the Turkish expedition against Nejd took the -city, they reported it to have 15,000 houses and 200 suburb -villages(!) This shows the absolute uncertainty of most statistics -in regard to Arabia.</p> - -<p>El Hassa (Hofhoof) is the first stage on the direct caravan -route from east Arabia to Mecca and Jiddah. Abd Er Rahman -bin Salama, the Arab Sheikh, under the Turkish governor -of the Rifa’a quarter of the town gave me the following information -regarding this route. From Hassa to Riad is six days -by camel, from Riad to Jebel Shammar nine days; to Wady -Dauasir seven; and from Riad to Mecca eighteen days. -That would be <i>twenty-eight days</i> to cross the peninsula, not -including stops on the road and travelling at the rate of an -ordinary caravan, <i>i. e.</i>, three miles an hour</p> - -<p>The Kaisariyeh or bazaar of Hofhoof is well supplied with -all the usual requirements and luxuries of the Levant; weapons, -cloth, gold embroidery, dates, vegetables, dried fish, wood, -salted locusts, fruit, sandals, tobacco, copper-ware and piece-goods—in -irregular confusion as enumerated. Public auctions<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115"></a>115</span> -are held frequently in the square or on the plain outside the -walls. Here, too, the barbers ply their trade, and blacksmiths -beat at their anvils under the shade of a date-hut. The Rifa’a -quarter has the <i>best</i> houses, while the Na’athal has the largest -number; the “East-end” in Hofhoof being for the rich and -the “West-end” for the poor, as is proper in a land of paradoxes.</p> - -<p>Hassa is celebrated for two sorts of manufacture; cloaks or -<i>abbas</i>, with rich embroidery in gold and colored thread, -delicately wrought and of elegant pattern, the gayest and -costliest garments of Arabia; and brass coffee-pots of curious -shape and pretty form, which, with the cloaks, are exported all -over Eastern Arabia, even as far as Busrah and Muscat. Once -trade flourished and the merchants grew rich in this land of -easy agriculture and fertile soil. But intestine wars, Wahabi -fanaticism and Turkish indolence, extortion and taxation have -taken away prosperity, and Hassa’s capital is not what it was in -the days of old, when the Carmathians held the town.</p> - -<p>One remnant of its former glory remains; a unique and -entirely local coinage called the <i>Toweelah</i> or “long-bit.” It -consists of a small copper-bar, mixed with a small proportion of -silver, about an inch in length, split at one end and with a -fissure slightly opened. Along one or both of its flattened sides -run a few Cufic characters, nearly illegible in most specimens, -but said to read: <i>Mohammed-al-Saood</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, “Mohammed -of the Saood family.” The coin has neither date nor motto, -but was undoubtedly made by one of the Carmathian Princes -about the year 920 <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> This Moslem sect owed its origin to -a fanatic and enthusiast born at Cufa, called Carmath, who -first had a following about the year 277 of the Hejira. He -assumed the lofty titles, Guide, Director, the Word, the Holy -Ghost, the Herald of the Messiah, etc. His interpretation of -the Koran was very lax in the matters of ablution, fasting, and -pilgrimage, but he increased the number of prayers to fifty -daily. He had twelve apostles among the Bedouins, and his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116"></a>116</span> -sect grew so rapidly that they could muster in the field 107,000 -fanatical warriors. Cufa and Busrah were pillaged and -Bagdad taken. In 929 Abu Taher stormed the Holy City of -Mecca and the Carmathians took away the black stone in -triumph to Katif. The centre of their power remained at -Hassa for some years. Here the coin was struck, which is the -only remnant of their power and fanaticism. And while the -Carmathian doctrines are held in abhorrence, their little bars -of copper still buy rice and dates and stick to the hands of the -money-changer in the bazaar.</p> - -<p>In former days there were gold and silver coins of similar -shape. Some in silver can yet be found occasionally inscribed -with the noble motto in Arabic: “<i>Honor to the sober man, -dishonor to the ambitious.</i>” When I was in Hofhoof that -strange, two-tailed copper-bar was worth half an anna and disputed -its birthright in the market with rupees and Indian paper -and Maria Theresa dollars and Turkish coppers. But how -changed the bazaar itself would appear to the ghost of some -Carmathian warrior of the ninth century who first handled a -“long-bit.” Even the Wahabis have disappeared and -tobacco, silk, music and wine are no longer deadly sins. Of -these Moslem Puritans many have left for Riad, and the few -that remain stroke their long white beards in horror at Turkish -Effendis in infidel breeches smoking cigarettes, while they sigh -for the golden days of the Arabian Reformer.</p> - -<p>There is a military hospital at Hofhoof with a surgeon and -doctor, but at the time of my visit there was a dearth of medicines -and an abominable lack of sanitation. Few soldiers submit -to hospital treatment, preferring to desert or seek furlough -elsewhere, and nothing is done for the Arab population. -Before my coming cholera raged here as well as on the coast, -and during my short visit smallpox was epidemic and carried -off many, many children. Thrice awful are such diseases in -a land where a practical fanaticism, under the pious cloak of -religion, scorns medicine or preventive measures.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117"></a>117</span></p> - -<p>The government of the province of Hassa is as follows. -The <i>Sandjak</i> (Turkish for administrative division) is divided -into three <i>cazas</i>, Nejd, Katar and Katif and a small garrison -holds each of these cazas; 600 men at Hofhoof, and 300 at -Katar and Katif. The governor, called Mutaserrif Pasha, -resides at the capital and <i>kaimakams</i> or sub-governors at the -other two centres. There are the usual Turkish tribunals and -each Arab tribe has a representative or go-between to arrange -its affairs with the governor. The principal tribes which at -present acknowledge Turkish occupation and submit to their -rule are: El Ajeman, El Morah, Bni Hajar, Bni Khaled, Bni -Hassam, El Motter, El Harb, and El Ja’afer. The Turkish -government has opened three schools in the province; the -total number of pupils according to the Turkish official report -is 3,540. The same report puts the entire population of the -province at 250,000; this gives a fair idea of the backwardness -of education even in this province which has always been remarkable -for book-learning. The large mosque with its -twenty-four arches and porticoes, smooth-plastered and with a -mat-spread floor is always full of mischievous youth learning -the mysteries of grammar and the commonplaces of Moslem -theology; but the days of poetry and writing of commentaries -on the Koran are in the past; even the Wahabi merchants -talk of Bombay and are glad to get hold of an English primer -or an atlas of the new world which is knocking at their door -for admittance.</p> - -<p>After four days spent in the city I accepted an opportunity -to return northward with a caravan; I was not allowed to go, -however, until after I had signed a paper, which, because of the -unsafety of the road disclaimed all responsibility on the part of the -Government should I come to lose life, limb or luggage. A copy -of this document is in my possession, but the only foe I met in -the desert was—fever. On Tuesday noon our small party set -out, not going through the large town of Mobarrez as I had -hoped, but turning east and reaching Kilabeejeh at two o’clock.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118"></a>118</span> -We passed fountains and streams and fields of rice and -swamps,—everything very unlike Arabia of the school-geography. -In four hours, however, we were again in the midst of -desert where the sun proved too hot for me and I was taken -with a fever which did not leave me until I returned to Bahrein. -The road continued desert all the way to Katif. On Wednesday -we rode all night under the stars (because of a false alarm -of robbers) until nine o’clock next morning. Then we rested -at a place called, with bitter irony, Um El Hammam; there -are no <i>baths</i>, no trees, no grass, only a shallow pit of dirty -water and small shrubbery of dates. Here we spent a hot day. -On Friday morning we came to the borders of Katif,—palm-groves, -wells, and ancient aqueducts with curious towers and -air-holes at intervals. Through gardens and around by the -large square fort we came to the sea. At the custom-house, -again, I found rest and refreshment.</p> - -<p>Katif has no good name among Hassa Arabs; its location -is low and marshy; “its inhabitants are mostly weak in frame, -sallow in complexion, and suffer continually from malaria. -The town itself is badly built, woefully filthy, damp and ill-favored -in climate. Yet it has a good population and brisk -trade. The inhabitants are mostly Shiahs of Persian origin -and are held in abhorrence by the Wahabis and the Turks -alike as little better than infidels. The present location of -Katif corresponds to the very ancient settlement of the <i>Gerrha</i> -of the Greek geographers but no exploration for ruins has ever -been made. A Portuguese castle marks <i>their</i> occupation of -this coast also during their supremacy in the gulf. Katif was -taken by the Turks in 1871 and has been occupied by them -ever since.</p> - -<p>The Arabian coast north of Katif, all the way to Kuweit -is without a single large settlement. Mostly barren and in the -hands of the predatory and warlike tribe of Bni Hajar, it is -very uninteresting and entirely unproductive.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119"></a>119</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XII">XII<br /> - -<small>THE RIVER-COUNTRY AND THE DATE-PALM</small></h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“The rich plains of Mesopotamia and Assyria which were once cultivated -by a populous nation and watered by surprising efforts of human -industry, are now inhabited, or rather ravaged by wandering Arabs. So -long as these fertile provinces shall remain under the government, or -rather anarchy of the Turks they must continue deserts in which nature -dies for want of the fostering care of man”—<i>Niebuhr</i> (1792).</p></div> - - -<p>What changes of history have left their records in ruins -and names and legends on the great alluvial plains -of Northeastern Arabia! The two rivers still bear their -Bible names, the Euphrates and <i>Dijleh</i>, or Hiddekel, but -nothing else is left which could be called paradise. What -impresses the traveller first and most is that so large an extent -of this fertile region lies waste and unproductive under an -effete rule. The splendor of the past can scarcely be believed -because of the ruin of the present. Everywhere are traces of -ancient empires and yet it seems incredible as we watch the -half-naked Arabs ploughing through the mud-banks with their -wild cattle and primitive implements.</p> - -<p>Was this the cradle of the human race? Babylon and Nineveh -are here for the archaeologist; Ctesiphon, Kufa and Zobeir -for the historian; Bagdad and Busrah (or Bassorah) for old -Arabian romance; and Ur of the Chaldees for the Bible student. -Since Haroun Rashid went about in disguise how many -yet stranger Arabian nights has Bagdad seen! How surprised -Sinbad the sailor would be to see the decay of Busrah, yet -with a dozen “smoke-ships” in its harbor!</p> - -<p>Mesopotamia, called by the Arabs <i>El Jezira</i>, was formerly -limited to the land lying between the two rivers and south of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120"></a>120</span> -the old wall by which they were connected above Bagdad. -From this point to the Persian Gulf the district was and is -still known as Irak-Arabi, to distinguish it from the Irak of -Persia. Commonly, however, the name of Mesopotamia -(Mid-River-Country) is given to the whole northeastern part -of Arabia. It has a total area of 180,000 square miles and -presents great uniformity in its physical as well as its ethnical -characteristics. Arabs live and Arabic is spoken for three -hundred miles beyond Bagdad as far as Diarbekr and Mardin; -but we limit our description to the region between Busrah and -Bagdad including the delta at the mouth of the rivers.</p> - -<p>Near Bagdad the two giant rivers, after draining Eastern -Asia Minor, Armenia and Kurdistan, approach quite near -together; from thence the main streams are connected by -several channels and intermittent watercourses, the chief of -which is the Shatt-el Hai. At Kurna the two rivers unite to -form the Shatt-el-Arab which traverses a flat, fertile plain -dotted with villages and covered with artificially irrigated -meadow-lands and extensive date groves. As far up as Bagdad -the river is navigable throughout the year for steamers of considerable -size. It is entirely owing to the enterprise of English -commerce and the Bagdad-Busrah steamship line that the -country, so gloomily described by Niebuhr, in 1792, and even -by Chesney in 1840, has been developed into new life and -prosperity. Even Turkish misrule and oppression cannot do -away utterly with natural fertility and productiveness; and if -ever a good government should hold this region it would regain -its ancient importance and double its present population.</p> - -<p>Two features are prominent in the physical geography of this -region. First the flat almost level stretches of meadow without -any rise or fall except the artificial ancient mounds<a id="FNanchor_36" href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a>. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121"></a>121</span> -second is the date-palm. The whole length of the country -from Fao and Mohammerah to the country of the Montefik -Arabs above Kurna is one large date plantation, on both sides -of the wide river. Everywhere the tall shapely trees line the -horizon and near the lower estuary of the Shatt-el-Arab they -are especially luxuriant and plentiful. Formerly every palm-tree -on the Nile, was registered and taxed; but to count every -such tree on the Shatt-el-Arab would be an unending task.</p> - -<p>The proper coat-of-arms for all lower Mesopotamia would be -a date-palm. It is the “banner of the climate” and the wealth -of the country. There may be monotony in these long groves -and rows of well-proportioned columns with their tops hidden -in foliage, but there certainly is nothing wearisome. A date -garden is a scene of exceeding beauty, varying greatly according -to the time of the day and the state of the weather. At -sunrise or sunset the gorgeous colors fall on the gracefully pendant -fronds or steal gently through the lighter foliage and reflect -a vivid green so beautiful that once seen, it can never be -forgotten. At high-noon the dark shadows and deep colors of -the date-forests refresh and rest the eye aching from the brazen -glare of sand and sky. But the forest is at its best, when on -a dewy night the full moon rises and makes a pearl glisten on -every spiked leaf and the shadows show black as night in contrast -with the sheen of the upper foliage.</p> - -<p>It was an Arab poet who first sang the song of the date-palm -so beautifully interpreted by Bayard Taylor:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Next to thee, O fair Gazelle!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O Bedowee girl, beloved so well,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Next to the fearless Nejidee</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whose fleetness shall bear me again to thee—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Next to ye both I love the palm</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With his leaves of beauty and fruit of balm.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Next to ye both, I love the tree</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whose fluttering shadows wrap us three</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In love and silence and mystery.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122"></a>122</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Our tribe is many, our poets vie</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With any under the Arab sky</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet none can sing of the palm but I.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The noble minarets that begem</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cairo’s citadel diadem</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Are not so light as his slender stem.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He lifts his leaves in the sunbeam glance</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As the Almehs lift their arms in dance;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A slumberous motion, a passionate sigh</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That works in the cells of the blood like wine.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O tree of love, by that love of thine</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Teach me how I shall soften mine.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Mark Twain compared the palm-tree to “a liberty-pole with -a haycock” on top of it. The truth lies between the poet -and the “Innocent” traveller, for the date-tree is both a poem -and a commercial product; to the Arab mind it is the perfection -of beauty and utility.</p> - -<p>The date palm-tree is found in Syria, Asia Minor, nearly all -parts of Arabia and the southern islands of the Mediterranean, -but it attains to its greatest perfection in upper Egypt and -Mesopotamia.<a id="FNanchor_37" href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> Some idea of the immense importance of this -one crop in the wealth of Mesopotamia may be gained from -the statement of an old English merchant at Busrah, that “the -entire annual date-harvest of the River-country might conservatively -be put at 150,000 tons.”</p> - -<p>The date-tree consists of a single stem or trunk about fifty to -eighty feet high, without a branch, and crowned at the summit -by a cluster of leaves or “palms” that drop somewhat in the -shape of a huge umbrella. Each of these palms has long lanceolate -leaves spreading out like a fan from the centre stem -which often attains a length of ten or even twelve feet. In a -wild state the successive rows of palms, which mark the annual -growth of the tree, wither and contract but remain upon the -trunk, producing with every breath of wind the creaking sound<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123"></a>123</span> -so often heard in the silence of the desert-night. But where -the palms are cultivated the old stems are cut away as fast as -they dry and are put to many different uses. The trunk of -the palm-tree therefore presents the appearance of scales which -enable a man, whose body is held to the tree by a rope noose, -to climb to the top with ease and gather the fruit. At a distance, -these annual <i>rings</i> of the date-palm appear as a series of -diagonal lines dividing the trunk. Palm-trees often reach the -age of a hundred years. The date-palm is diœcious; but in -Mesopotamia the pistilate-palms far exceed in number the -staminate. Marriage of the palms takes place every spring and -is a busy time for the husbandman as it is no small task to -climb all the trees and sprinkle the pollen.</p> - -<p><a id="A_DATE_ORCHARD_NEAR_BUSRAH"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus-122a" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-122a.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">A DATE ORCHARD NEAR BUSRAH.</div> -</div> - -<p><a id="DATES_GROWING_ON_A_DATE-PALM"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp56" id="illus-122b" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-122b.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">DATES GROWING ON A DATE-PALM.</div> -</div> - -<p>Arabs have written books and Europeans have composed -fables on the thousand different uses of the palm-tree. Every -part of this wonderful tree is useful to the Arabs in unexpected -ways. To begin at the top:—The pistils of the date-blossom -contain a fine curly fibre which is beaten out and used in all -Eastern baths as a sponge for soaping the body. At the extremity -of the trunk is a terminal bud containing a whitish substance -resembling an almond in consistency and taste, but a -hundred times as large. This is a great table delicacy. There -are said to be over one hundred varieties of date-palm all distinguished -by their fruit and the Arabs say that “a good -housewife may furnish her husband every day for a month with -a dish of dates differently prepared.” Dates form the staple -food of the Arabs in a large part of Arabia and are always -served in some form at every meal. Syrup and vinegar is made -from old dates, and by those who disregard the Koran, even -a kind of brandy. The date-pit is ground up and fed to cows -and sheep so that nothing of the precious fruit may be lost. -Whole pits are used as beads and counters for the Arab children -in their games on the desert-sand. The branches or -palms are stripped of their leaves and used like rattan, to make -beds, tables, chairs, cradles, bird-cages, reading-stands, boats,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124"></a>124</span> -crates, etc., etc. The leaves are made into baskets, fans and -string and the <i>bast</i> of the outer trunk forms excellent fibre for -rope of many sizes and qualities. The wood of the trunk, -though light and porous, is much used in bridge-building and -architecture and is quite durable. In short, when a date-palm -is cut down there is not a particle of it that is wasted. -This tree is the “poor-house” and asylum for all Arabia; -without it millions would have neither food nor shelter. -For one half of the population of Mesopotamia lives in date-mat -dwellings.</p> - -<p>Although everywhere the date-culture is an important industry, -Busrah is the centre of the trade, for here is the principal -depot for export. The three best varieties of dates known -at Busrah are the <i>Hallawi</i>, <i>Khadrawi</i> and <i>Sayer</i>. These are -the only kinds that will stand shipping to the European markets. -They are packed in layers in wooden boxes, or in smaller carton -boxes. The average export to London and New York -from Busrah for the past five years has been about <i>20,000 tons</i>, -nearly one half of which was for the American market. Other -important varieties are <i>Zehdi</i>, <i>Bérem</i>, <i>Dery</i> and <i>Shukri</i>. These -are packed more roughly in matting or baskets, and are sent -along the whole Arabian coast, to India, the Red Sea littoral -and Zanzibar. There are over thirty other varieties cultivated -near Busrah for local consumption. Some of them have curious -names such as: “Mother of Perfume,” “Sealed-up,” -“Red Sugar,” “Daughter of Seven,” “Bride’s-finger,” -“Little Star,” “Pure Daughter”; others have names which -it is better not to translate.</p> - -<p>Palgrave and others, with whose verdict I agree, pronounced -the <i>Khalasi</i> date of El Hassa superior to all other kinds. It -has recently been introduced into Mesopotamia. Palgrave -says, “the literal and not inappropriate translation of the name -is ‘quintessence’—a species peculiar to Hassa and easily the -first of its kind.” The fruit itself is rather smaller than -the usual <i>Hallawi</i> date, but it is not so dry and far more<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125"></a>125</span> -luscious. It is of a rich dark amber color, almost ruddy, and -translucent; the kernel is small and easily detached, the date -tastes sweet as sugar and is as far superior to the date bought -in the American market as a ripe Pippin is to dried apple-rings.</p> - -<p>At Busrah the date season opens in September and keeps -every one busy until the vast harvest is gathered and shipped. -The dates for export to Europe and America are of prime -quality, a box of half a hundred-weight on board the steamer -is worth about three or four shillings wholesale. All poor, -wet, and small dates are packed separately in mats or bags, -and are sent to India as second-quality. The poorest lot are -sent in mass to the distilleries in England. Thus nothing is -lost. Date-packers, who put the fruit in layers, receive three -or four <i>kameris</i> for packing a box. The best packers can only -pack four boxes a day, so that their wages are about a <i>kran</i> -(about ten cents) per day. They live cheaply on the fruit, -and bring all their family, babes and greybeards with them to -lodge for the season in the date-gardens. The date season in -Busrah begins in the early or middle part of September and -lasts for six or eight weeks. The price of the date-crop varies. -It is usually fixed at a meeting held in some date-garden where -the growers and buyers play the bull and the bear until an -agreement is reached. The prices in 1897 were, in the language -of the trade: “340 Shamis for Hallawis, 280 Shamis for -Khadrawis, and 180 Shamis for Sayer.” Seventeen <i>Shamis</i> -are equal to about one pound sterling, and the prices quoted -are for a <i>kara</i>, about fifty hundred-weights.</p> - -<p>The culture of the date has steadily increased for the past -fifteen years. In 1896 the greater part of the country was inundated -by heavy floods and over a million date-trees are said -to have been destroyed; new gardens are being planted continually. -The Arabs of Mesopotamia display great skill and -unusual care in manuring, irrigating and improving their date-plantations, -for they realize more and more that this is no -mean source of wealth. One recent use to which export dates<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126"></a>126</span> -are put is in the manufacture of vinegar, it would seem, since -the beet-sugar industry has proved so profitable, that there -must be some method by which good sugar could be manufactured -from date-syrup.</p> - -<p>Mesopotamia is rich not only in date-groves but in cereals, -wool, gums, licorice root and other products. The export -of wool alone in 1897 was valued at £288,700. And the -total exports the same year, for the two provinces of Bagdad -and Busrah, were put at £522,960. Busrah is the shipping -place for all the region round about, and ocean steamers -of considerable size are always in Busrah harbor, during 1897 -four hundred and twenty-one sailing vessels and ninety-five -steamships cleared the port, with a total tonnage of 131,846; -ninety-one of the steamships were British.</p> - -<p>The population of the two vilayets is given by Cuinet, who -follows Turkish authorities, as follows:</p> - - -<table class="small" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdc"><i>Moslems.</i></td> -<td class="tdc"><i>Christians.</i></td> -<td class="tdc"><i>Jews.</i></td> -<td class="tdc"><i>Total.</i></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Bagdad Vilayet,</td> -<td class="tdr">789,500</td> -<td class="tdr">7,000</td> -<td class="tdr">53,500</td> -<td class="tdr">850,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Busrah Vilayet,</td> -<td class="tdr">939,650</td> -<td class="tdr">5,850</td> -<td class="tdr">4,500</td> -<td class="tdr">950,000</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>In Bagdad vilayet nearly four-fifths of the Moslem population -belongs to the Sunnite sect, while in Busrah vilayet -three-fourths of them are Shiahs. The Sabeans are generally -reckoned among the Christians, although these are already -sufficiently divided into Latin, Greek Orthodox, Greek, Syrian, -Chaldean Catholic, Armenian Gregorian, Armenian Catholic -and Protestants—the last in the smallest minority possible and -the others chiefly distinguished by mutual distrust and united -hatred of Protestantism.</p> - -<p>The vilayet of Bagdad is divided again into three <i>Sandjaks</i> -or districts of Bagdad, Hillah and Kerbela, and that of Busrah -likewise into those of Busrah, Amara Muntefik and Nejd<a id="FNanchor_38" href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a>. Of -these six districts that of Bagdad is the largest in area and importance -and is the centre of military power for both vilayets.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127"></a>127</span> -The boundaries of Bagdad Sandjak go as far as Anah on the -Euphrates toward the north and include Kut-el-Amara on the -south with both banks of the Tigris. Hillah and Kerbela are -along the Euphrates with irregular boundaries while the Muntefik -Sandjak with its provincial town of Nasariya separates -them from that of Busrah. The Sandjak of Amara begins a -few miles north of the junction of the two rivers, and the whole -frontier toward Persia is entirely undefined or at least “<i>in litigation</i>,” -as the Turkish official maps have it.</p> - -<p>The two Turkish provinces have all the involved machinery -of Turkish civil and military administration. There are plenty -of offices and office-holders and constant changes in both. -Each province has a governor-general or <i>Wali</i> and (outside -of the governor’s sandjak) each district has its <i>mutaserrif-pasha</i> -either of the first or second class—those one has to deal with -generally prove to be of the latter. Then there are <i>Kaimakams</i> -for smaller districts or cities, and finally <i>mudirs</i> for villages. -At the seat of government, called the <i>Serai</i>, there is an administrative -council, including the <i>Näib</i> or <i>kadi</i>, corresponding -to chief-justice; the <i>defterdar</i> or secretary of finance; the -<i>mufti</i> or public interpreter of Moslem law; the <i>nakib</i>, etc., etc., -etc. There are several courts of justice of different rank; the -custom-house administration is on the <i>e pluribus unum</i> plan -and <i>ne plus ultra</i> system. Besides these there are the “Regie -des tabacs” or the tobacco-monopoly, the post and telegraph -administration, the sanitary offices, the salt-inspectors, and, at -Kerbela, the Tarif of corpses levied on imported pilgrims. To -describe all these satisfactorily would require a volume.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128"></a>128</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XIII">XIII<br /> - -<small>THE CITIES AND VILLAGES OF TURKISH-ARABIA</small></h2></div> - - -<p>Kuweit,<a id="FNanchor_39" href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> on the gulf a little south of the river delta, will -in all probability—before long, rise in importance and be -as well known as Suez or Port Said. It has the finest harbor in -all Eastern Arabia, and is an important town of from 10,000 -to 12,000 inhabitants. Here will probably be the terminus -of the proposed railroads to bind India and the gulf to Europe -by the shortest route. The whole country round about being -practically desert, the place is entirely dependent on its trade -for support. It possesses more bagalows (sailing-vessels) than -any port in the gulf; is remarkably cleanly; has some very -well-built houses and an extensive dockyard for boat building. -The town and tribe are nominally under Turkish subjection, -although protection is the better word, and it is rumored that -Kuweit will soon be as much in the hands of the English as is -Bahrein.</p> - -<p>The Bedouin tribes of Northern Hassa, and even from Nejd, -bring horses, cattle and sheep to this place to barter for dates, -clothing and fire-arms. There is nearly always a large encampment -of Bedouins near the town. The route overland from -Kuweit to Busrah is across the desert until we come to an old -artificial canal; leaving Jebel Sinam to the left the second -march brings us to Zobeir, a small village on the site of ancient -Busrah, and only a few hours to the present site. At Zobeir is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129"></a>129</span> -the tomb of the Moslem leader for whom the town is named. -The village contains about 400 houses, and the population is -rich and fanatical. In the vicinity are gardens where a kind -of melon is raised, which is celebrated in all the region round -about for sweetness and delicacy of flavor. The journey from -Kuweit to Busrah is generally made, even by natives, in bugalows; -while the Persian Gulf steamers, not calling at Kuweit, -proceed direct from Bushire to Fao, at the mouth of the Shatt-el-Arab. -A great hindrance to commerce is the bar formed by -the alluvial deposit of the immense river as it reaches the gulf. -At low tide there is only ten feet of water in the deepest part -of the channel, and even at flood tide large steamers must plow -their way through the mud to reach Busrah.</p> - -<p>Fao is of no importance except as the terminus of the cable -from Bushire. A British telegraph station was established here -in 1864. The Turkish telegraph system from up the rivers -terminates at Fao, and here too they have a representative to -govern the place and enforce stringent quarantine. The -Shatt-el-Arab winds motononously between the vast date-orchards -or desert banks for about forty miles, until we reach -the Karun river and the Persian town of Mohammerah. -Busrah is sixty-seven miles from the bar and between it and -Fao there are many important villages on each bank of the -river. Aboo Hassib is perhaps the most important and is a -great centre for date-culture and packing.</p> - -<p>Busrah consists of the native city—containing the principal -bazaars, the government house, and the bulk of the population—and -the new town on the river. The native town is about two -miles from the river on a narrow creek, called <i>Ashar</i>; a good -road runs along the bank, and this road really unites the two -parts of the city into one as it is lined with dwelling-houses for -a large part of the way. Busrah has seen better days, but also -worse. In the middle of the eighteenth century it numbered -upward of 150,000 inhabitants. In 1825, it had diminished -to 60,000; the plague of 1831 reduced it further by nearly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130"></a>130</span> -one-half, and after the plague of 1838, scarcely 12,000 inhabitants -remained. In 1854, it is said to have had only -5,000 inhabitants. At present the place is growing yearly in -population and importance in spite of misgovernment and -ruinous taxation. It has every natural advantage over Bagdad, -except climate, and will yet outstrip the city of the old -caliphs, if Turkey’s rule mends or ends. The present population -of the city proper is given by Ottoman authorities at 18,000. -Many ruins all over the plains and in the surrounding gardens tell -of its former extent and splendor. At present the native town -looks sadly dilapidated, and tells the story of neglect and decay. -The unexampled filthiness of the streets and the undrained -marshes in the environs make the place proverbially -unhealthy. This unhygienic condition is not improved by the -Ashar Creek being at the same time the common sewer and the -common water supply for over one-half of the population. The -wealthy classes send out boats to bring water from the river, -but all the poorer people use the creek. Such are the results of -an imbecile government which could easily drain the marshes -and supply every one with great abundance of pure water.</p> - -<p>Ancient Busrah, near the present site of Zobeir, was founded -in 636 <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span>, by the second Caliph Omar as a key to the -Euphrates and Tigris. It reached great prosperity, and was -the home of poetry and grammatical learning, as Bagdad was -the centre of science and philosophy. After the twelfth century -the city began to decay, and at the conquest of Bagdad -by Murad IV., in 1638, this entire stretch of country fell into -the hands of the Turks. Then the present city took the name -of Busrah. Later it was in the hands of the Arabs and Persians, -and from 1832 to 1840, Mohammed Ali was in possession. -Under the rule of Midhat Pasha, governor-general of Bagdad, -the city of Busrah arose in importance partly because of the -Turkish Steam Navigation Company which he promoted. But -it was a dream-life. English commerce and enterprise aroused -the place thoroughly, and the whistle of steamships has kept it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131"></a>131</span> -awake ever since the Suez canal opened trade with Europe by -way of the gulf.<a id="FNanchor_40" href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></p> - -<p>In making the journey from Busrah to Bagdad the traveller -has choice of two lines of river-steamers: the Ottoman service -has six steamers and the English company three, but the latter -are only allowed to use two by the Turkish government. For -romance, discomfort and tediousness, choose the former; for -all other reasons select the latter. I have tried both. The -English steamers carry the mails to Bagdad and make weekly -trips; four or five days being required for the journey up -stream, and three days down, although when the water is low -the journey may be long delayed. In bad or shallow places -the steamers often discharge a part of their cargo, heave over -the shallow part and load up again. Of course trade suffers -and vast quantities of merchandise often lie for weeks at Busrah -awaiting shipment. No steps are ever taken by the Ottoman -government to counteract the great waste of water which -flows into the marshes. In course of time, unless prevented, -this waste will lead to the closing up of the main channel of the -Tigris even as the Euphrates below Suk-es-Shiukh has become -a marsh for lack of use.</p> - -<p>The good Steamship <i>Mejidieh</i> with its kindly Captain Cowley, -or the sister ship <i>Khalifah</i> lies at anchor just off the English -Consulate, the blue-peter flies overhead and the decks are overcrowded -with all sorts and conditions of men—Persians, Turks, -Indians, Arabs, Armenians, Greeks;—baggage, bales, boxes, -water-bottles—chickens, geese, sheep, horses, not to speak of -the insect-population on which it is impossible to collect freight-charges. -The steamers are somewhat after the type of the -American river-steamers on the Mississippi; but no Mark -Twain has yet arisen to immortalize them, although they afford -an even more fertile theme. With a double deck and broad<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132"></a>132</span> -of beam they carry hundreds of passengers and an astonishing -amount of cargo for their size. The accommodation during -cool weather is excellent, and during the hot days no one -travels for the sake of luxury.</p> - -<p>The first place at which the steamer calls is Kurna at the -junction of the rivers, and from whence the course is up the -Tigris to Bagdad. The Tomb of Ezra, about nine hours from -Busrah, is a great place for pilgrimages by the Jews. It is a -pretty spot on the river bank and picturesque with its crowd of -embarking and disembarking Jews and Jewesses. The tomb -is a domed cloister enclosing a square mausoleum, and paved -with blue tiles. Over the doorway are two tablets of black -marble with Hebrew inscriptions attesting to the authenticity -of the tomb. It is not improbable that Ezra is buried here, -for the Talmud states that he died at Zamzuma, a town on the -Tigris. He is said to have died here on his way from Jerusalem -to Susa to plead the cause of the captive Jews. Josephus says -that he was buried at Jerusalem, but no Jew of Bagdad doubts -that Ezra’s remains rest on the Tigris.</p> - -<p>Ten hours beyond, we pass also on the west bank, Abu -Sadra, a tomb of an Arab saint marked only by a reed-hut and -a grove of poplars. Next is Amara, a large and growing -village with a coaling-depot and an enterprising population. -This place was founded in 1861, and promises to become a -centre of trade. After passing Ali Shergi, Ali Gherbi, and -Sheikh Saad, small villages, without stopping, the steamer calls -at Kut-el-Amara, a larger place even than Amara, on the east -bank, with over 4,000 inhabitants.</p> - -<p><a id="THE_REPUTED_TOMB_OF_EZRA_ON_THE_TIGRIS_RIVER"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-132a" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-132a.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">THE REPUTED TOMB OF EZRA ON THE TIGRIS RIVER.</div> -</div> - -<p>All the way from Busrah to Bagdad, but especially along this -part of the river, we pass Bedouin tribes, encamped in the -black tents of Kedar, engaged in the most primitive agriculture -or irrigation of their land, or rushing along the banks to -hail the passing steamer. A hungry, impudent, noisy, cheerful -lot they are; filling the merciful with pity and moving the -thoughtless to laughter, as they scramble up and down the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133"></a>133</span> -banks into the water to catch a piece of bread or a few dates -thrown to them.</p> - -<p><a id="RUINS_OF_THE_ARCH_OF_CTESIPHON_NEAR_BAGDAD"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-132b" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-132b.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">RUINS OF THE ARCH OF CTESIPHON NEAR BAGDAD.</div> -</div> - -<p>Meanwhile we steam along passing Bughela, Azizieh, Bagdadieh -and reach Bustani Kesra, or the arch of Ctesiphon. -The little village of Soleiman-Pak is named for the pious man -who was the private barber of Mohammed the prophet. After -various wanderings, poor pious Pak was buried here, only a -short distance from the great arch. A village sprang up near -the tomb, pilgrims come from everywhere and miracles are -claimed to be wrought by him who when alive only handled -the razor. The whole region of Mesopotamia is more rich in -saints, tombs and pilgrim-shrines than any other part of Arabia.</p> - -<p>The arch of Ctesiphon is not a shrine but it is well worth a -visit. It is the only prominent object that remains of the vast -ruins of Ctesiphon on the east bank of the Tigris, and Seleucia -on the west. The arch is now almost in ruins but must once -have been the façade of a magnificent building. Its length is -275 feet, and its height is given variously as eighty-six or one -hundred feet; the walls are over twelve feet thick and the -span of the magnificent arch is nearly eighty feet. What -Ctesiphon was in the days of the Sassanian kings we read in -Gibbon. Now its glory has departed and the tomb of the -Barber has more visitors than the ancient throne of the Chosroes. -Eight hours after leaving Ctesiphon’s ruins, our steamer -is in full sight of the city of Haroun Rashid.</p> - -<p>Bagdad is a familiar name even to the boy who reads the -Arabian tales rather than his geography. It is one of the chief -cities of the Turkish empire and has a history much older than -the empire itself. Founded by the Caliph Mansur about the -year 765 <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span>, it was the capital of the Mohammedan world -for five hundred years, until it was destroyed by Halakn, -grandson of Jengiz Khan. Situated in the midst of what was -once the richest and most productive region of the old world -it is now no longer queen of the land but rather reminds us of -decay and dissolution. Its present beauties are only the ruins<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134"></a>134</span> -of former glory. The untidy soldiers slouching about the -streets, the evil-smelling bazaars and ruined mosques, the rotten -bridge of boats that spans the river, the faces of the poor -and the miserable who go begging through the streets, indicate -the curse of Turkish inanition and oppression.</p> - -<p>On the west bank of the river is the old town enclosed by -extensive orange and date-groves. On the east bank is New-Bagdad, -which also looks old enough. Here are the government -offices, consulates, and the chief commercial buildings as -well as the custom-offices. Bagdad is still an important city -on many accounts. No other city of the Turkish empire is -influenced so much by the desert and Arabia as is Bagdad; -and no other stands in such direct contact with the towns in -the interior of the peninsula. The Arabic spoken is comparatively -pure, and Bedouin manners still prevail in many ways in -the social life of the people. The city has a very motley -population, because of commerce on the one hand and the -number of pilgrim-shrines on the other. The tombs of Abd-ul-Kadir, -and Abu Hanifah and the gilded domes and minarets -which mark the resting-places of two of the Shiah Imams—all -draw their annual concourse of visitors from many lands and -peoples. All the languages of the Levant are spoken on its -streets although Arabic prevails over all. Dr. H.M. Sutton -remarks, “I have been at the bedside of a patient where in a -company of half-a-dozen people we had occasion to use five -languages, and on another occasion we were in a company of -about forty people in a room where no less than fourteen languages -were represented. The land of Shinar is thus still the -place of the confusion of tongues.” Bagdad like Busrah has -suffered greatly by ravages of the plague at various times, but -especially in 1830 when the plague was followed by a fearful -inundation. In one night, when the river burst its banks -7,000 houses fell and 15,000 people perished.</p> - -<p>The population of Bagdad is at present variously estimated -at from 120,000 to 180,000. Nearly one-third are Jews while<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135"></a>135</span> -the Oriental Christians number about 5,000. The trade of -Bagdad is large not only with the region southwards and toward -Busrah but with Nejd and Northern Mesopotamia. The -import trade from India and Europe to Bagdad is over £1,000,000 -every year, and the export trade to Europe alone is -placed at £522,960 for 1897. The river north of Bagdad is -not navigable for steamers but an immense number of <i>kelleks</i> -daily arrive from the north loaded with lumber from Kurdistan -and with other products. These <i>kelleks</i> are a craft made of -inflated goatskins boarded over with reeds and matting. The -boatmen return with the empty skins overland with the caravan -companies. Still more characteristic of Bagdad is the -small river-boat called a <i>kuffe</i> or coracle. It consists of a perfectly -circular hull, six to eight feet in diameter, with sides -curving inward like a huge basket, and covered with pitch. -This type of boat is as old as Nineveh and they are pictured -quite accurately on the old monuments.</p> - -<p>Bagdad has more than sixty-eight mosques, six churches and -twenty-two synagogues. Of the mosques some, like that of -Daood Pasha, are in fine condition; others are almost in ruins, -and remind one of the remark of Lady Ann Blunt: “A city -long past its prime, its hose a world too wide for its shrunk -shanks.” The feature of Bagdad is of course the river Tigris, -with its swift-flowing tide ever washing the mud banks and -watering the gardens for miles around. The houses come -down close to the water’s edge and some of them have pretty -gardens almost overhanging the stream and terraces and verandas—oriental -and picturesque. The British Residency is -perhaps most beautiful in its location and its frontage on the -river; but the other consulates vie with it in displaying to the -traveller the strength and hospitality of European States. The -European community is larger than at Busrah.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136"></a>136</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XIV">XIV<br /> - -<small>A JOURNEY DOWN THE EUPHRATES</small></h2></div> - - -<p>Through the kind assistance of Colonel Mockler, at -that time the Bagdad Consul General and Resident, in -the autumn of 1892, I was able to make the journey from Bagdad -across to Hillah and down the Euphrates—a route not -often taken by the traveller. After making necessary preparations -and finding a suitable servant we hired two mules and -left the city of the old Caliphs with a caravan for Kerbela. It -was in July and we made our first halt four hours from Bagdad, -sleeping on a blanket under the stars. An hour after -midnight the pack-saddles were lifted in place and we were off -again. It was a mixed company; Arabs, Persians, and Turks; -merchants for Hillah and pilgrims to the sacred shrines; -women in those curtained, cage-like structures called <i>taht-i-vans</i>,—two -portable zenanas hanging from each beast; dervishes -on foot with green turbans, heavy canes and awful visages: -and to complete the picture a number of rude coffins -strapped cross-wise on pack-mules and holding the remains of -some “true believers,” long since ready for the holy ground at -Nejf (Nedjef).</p> - -<p>The caravan travelled along the desert road mostly at night -to escape the fearful heat of midday when we sought shelter in -public khan. Nothing could be more uninteresting than the -country between Bagdad and Babylon at this season of the -year. The maps mark six khans on the route, but three of -these are in ruins and the others are merely stages of a caravan -rather than villages or centres of cultivation. The soil appears -excellent, but there are no irrigation canals, and everything -has a deserted appearance. A few low shrubs between the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137"></a>137</span> -mounds and moles of an ancient civilization; mud-houses -near the khans and some Arab encampments; camel skeletons -shining white by the wayside, under a burning sun; and a -troop or two of gazelle making for the river-banks—that is all -you see until you reach the palm-banked Euphrates at Hillah.</p> - -<p>The khans consist of a large enclosure with heavy walls of -sun-dried or Babylonian brick. In the interior are numerous -alcoves or niches, ten by six feet and four feet above ground; -you seek out an empty niche and find a resting-place until the -caravan starts at midnight. In the centre of the enclosure is a -well and a large platform for prayer—utilized for sleeping and -cooking by late arrivals who find no niche reserved as in our -case. The rest of the court is for animals and baggage. Usual -Arab supplies were obtainable at these resting-places, but every -comfort is scarce and the innkeepers are too busy to be hospitable.</p> - -<p>Khan el Haswa where we arrived the second day is the -centre of a small village of perhaps 300 people. At three in -the morning we left Haswa but it was nearly noon when we -reached the river, because of a delay on the road. The bazaar -and business of Hillah were formerly on the Babylonian side -of the stream, but are now principally on the further side of -the rickety bridge of boats four miles below the ruins of Babylon. -After paying toll we crossed over and found a room in -the Khan Pasha—a close, dirty place, but in the midst of the -town and near the river. Hillah is the largest town on the -Euphrates north of Busrah. Splendid groves of date-trees surround -it and stretch along the river as far as the eye can reach. -The principal merchandise of the town is wheat, barley and -dates. Of the Moslem population two-thirds are Shiah, and -the remaining Sunni are mostly Turks. There are one or two -native Christians and many Jews, but it is difficult to estimate -correctly the population of Hillah or of any of the towns on -the Euphrates. At Hillah the river is less than 200 yards -wide and has a much more gentle flow than the Tigris at<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138"></a>138</span> -Bagdad. A short distance northwest of the town is Kerbela. -It is only a village but the spot is visited by thousands of faithful -Moslems every year who venerate the twelve Imams of the -Shiah sect. Here is the tomb of Hosein the grandson of the -prophet and the son of Ali whom they believe the true successor -in the Caliphate. By living or dying here the Shiah devotee -has nought to fear for the next world. So strong is this -belief that many leave directions in their wills to be buried in -this hallowed spot. Thousands of corpses are imported some -even from India—after proper drying and salting—and are -laid to rest in the sacred ground. Nejf, south of Hillah, is the -place of Ali’s martyrdom and is no less sacred for the living -and the dead.</p> - -<p>At Kerbela the manufacture of <i>torbat</i> is about the only -industry. A <i>torbat</i> is a small piece of baked clay about two -inches in length, generally round or oblong, with the names of -Ali and Fatima rudely engraved on it. Made out of holy-ground, -these are carried home by all pilgrims and are used by -nearly every Shiah as a resting-place for the forehead in their -prayer prostrations. According to all reports Kerbela is similar -to Mecca in its loose morals and the character of its permanent -population.</p> - -<p>On July 31st we left Hillah and sailed down the river in a -native boat similar to the “bellum” of Busrah, but without -awning. The Euphrates is more muddy than the Tigris, and -its course, though less sinuous, is broken here and there by -shallow rapids.<a id="FNanchor_41" href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> We sailed all night and did not stop until we -arrived at Diwaniyeh the following afternoon. Many of the -villages on the way appeared to have a considerable population; -date-groves were plentiful, and we passed two or three Mathhab -or tombs of Arab Sheikhs, including that reputed to be Job’s, -“the greatest of all the sons of the East.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139"></a>139</span></p> - -<p>At Diwaniyeh I was directed to the Serai, or government-house, -where the Muttaserif Pasha of Hillah was forcing taxes -from the unwilling Arabs. I was kindly received, and, probably -because of my passport, was entertained at the Pasha’s -table. Diwaniyeh has only a small population, and its -importance is due to its wealth of palms and the wheat trade, -which gives another opportunity for the government to establish -a toll-bridge and custom-house.</p> - -<p>The Arabs of this region are notorious for their piracy on -native craft, and in 1836 they even attacked the English surveying -expedition. So I left the place with a guard of two -soldiers—Saadeh and Salim, who were as happy as their names. -Patching their uniforms, asleep in the bottom of the boat, eating -of our bread and dates, or polishing their rifles marked -“<i>U. S. Springfield</i>, Snider’s Pat. 1863,” we reached Samawa -safely. During the day we passed the hamlets Um Nejis, -Abu Juwareeb, Rumeitha, and Sheweit. But the general -scene was that of narrow morass channels branching out from -the river, where forests of reeds half hid mat-huts and naked -Arabs. These river tribes are not true nomads,<a id="FNanchor_42" href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> but live in -one place, on fish and the products of the river buffalo. It is -a strange sight to see a herd of large black cattle swimming -across stream, pursued by shouting, swimming and swearing -herdsmen. And this was once the home of Abraham, the -friend of God.</p> - -<p>Near Rumeitha there was a large menzil of the Lamlum -tribe. Here we fastened the boat for the night, as our company -was afraid to cross certain rapids by starlight. Some of -the Arabs came to our boat, armed with flint-locks and the -Mikwar—a heavy stick knobbed with sandstone or hard bitumen—in -Arab hands a formidable weapon. Most of the people<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140"></a>140</span> -were asleep, and we could get no supplies of any kind except -two roast fowl from the Turkish garrison in a mud brick fort -opposite. Even one of these fell to the share of a hungry -jackal during the night. We left early in the morning, and -after some difficulty in crossing the shallow rapids, reached -Samawa in four hours. Dismissing the zaptiehs, we found a -room in the Khan of Haj Nasir on the second floor and overlooking -the bazaar.</p> - -<p>It was the day before Ashera, the great day of Moharram, -and the whole town was in funereal excitement. All shops -were closed. Shiah were preparing for the great mourning, -and Sunni sought a safe place away from the street. As soon -as I came the local governor sent word that I must not leave -the khan under any circumstances, nor venture in the street, -as he would not be responsible for Shiah violence. I remained -indoors, therefore, until the following day, and saw from the -window the confusion of the night of Ashera, the tramp of a -mob, the beating of breasts, the wailing of women, the bloody -banners, and mock-martyr scenes, the rhythmic howling and -cries of “Ya Ali! ya Hassan! ya Hussein!” until throats -were hoarse and hands hung heavy for a moment, only to go at -it again. A pandemonium, as of Baal’s prophets on Carmel, -before the deaf and dumb God of Islam,—monotheistic only in -its book. “There is no god but God,” and yet to the Shiah -devotees of Moharram, “He is not in all their thoughts.” -The martyr caliphs of Nejf are their salvation and their hope, -the Houris’ lap.</p> - -<p><a id="A_PUBLIC_KHAN_IN_TURKISH-ARABIA"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp99" id="illus-140a" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-140a.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">A PUBLIC KHAN IN TURKISH-ARABIA.</div> -</div> - -<p>Between Samawa and Nasariya, the next important town, -we passed the villages: Zahara, El Kidr, Derj Kalat, (where -there is a Turkish Mudir and a telegraph station on the Hillah-Busrah -wire) Luptika, El Ain, Abu Tabr and El Assaniyeh. -The river begins to broaden below Samawa, and its banks are -beautiful with palms and willows. We were again delayed at -a toll-bridge; there must be taxes everywhere in Turkey, on -ships and on fishermen, on boats and on bridges, on tobacco<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141"></a>141</span> -and on salt; but this taxing of the same cargo at every river -port is peculiar.</p> - -<p><a id="ARAB_PILGRIMS_ON_BOARD_A_RIVER_STEAMER"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-140b" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-140b.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">ARAB PILGRIMS ON BOARD A RIVER STEAMER.</div> -</div> - -<p>Nasariya is a comparatively modern town and better built -than any on the Euphrates river. Its bazaar is large and wide, -and the government-houses are imposing for Arabdom. A -small gunboat lies near the landing, and this floating tub, with -its soldier guard and bugle-call, represents the only civilization -that has yet come to the Euphrates valley, and is a thing of -wonder to the Arabs. Opposite Nasariya are two large -walled enclosures, wheat granaries protected from Arab robbers. -Three hours west are the ruins of Mugheir—Ur of the -Chaldees.</p> - -<p>Our meheleh sailed down the river before daylight and five -hours later came to Suk el Shiukh, “the bazaar of old men.” -Abd el Fattah, in whose Persian kahwah we found a place, is -a cosmopolitan. He had seen “Franjees” before, had been to -Bombay, Aden and Jiddah, knew something of books, a little -less of the gospel, and spoke two English words, of which he -was very proud, “Stop her” and “Send a geri.” He was a -model innkeeper, and had it not been for his tea and talk, the -three days of stifling heat under a mat-roof would have been -less tolerable.</p> - -<p>South of Suk el Shiukh the river widens into marshes, where -the channel is so shallow that part of the cargo of all river boats -is transferred to smaller craft. On account of this delay, we -ran short of provisions before reaching Kurna, and our boatmen -were such prejudiced sectarians that it required argument -and much backsheesh to bargain for some rice and the use of -their cooking-pot. We were “nejis,” “kafir,” and what not, -and the captain vowed he would have to wash the whole boat -clean at Busrah from the footprints of the unbelievers. Between -Suk and the junction of the two rivers to form the Shatt-el-Arab -at Kurna, there are many wide, waste marshes, growing -reeds and pasture for the buffalo—a breeding place for insect -life and the terror of the boatmen because of the Me’dan<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142"></a>142</span> -pirates. We were three days on this part of the river, and -often all of us were in the water to lift and tug the boat over -some mud-bank. El Kheit is the only village of any size the -whole distance, but the Bedouin of the swamp, who live half -the time in the water and have not arrived at even the loincloth -stage of civilization, are a great multitude. At length -we reached Kurna and thence, by the broad, lordly, Shatt-el-Arab -to the mission-house at Busrah.</p> - -<p>What is to be the future of this great and wealthy valley, -which once supported myriads and was the centre of culture -and ancient civilization? Will it evermore rest under the -blight of the fez and the crescent? The one curse of the land -is the inane government and its ruthless taxation. The goose -with the golden egg is killed every day in Turkey—at least -robbed to its last <i>nest-egg</i>. The shepherd-tribes, the villagers, -the nomads, the agricultural communities, all suffer alike from -the same cause. When and whence will deliverance come? -Perhaps a partial reply to these two questions will be found if -we read between the lines in our chapter on the recent politics -of Arabia. A <i>Turkish</i> railroad in the Euphrates valley would -rust; but a railroad under any other government would develop -a region capable of magnificent improvement.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143"></a>143</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XV">XV<br /> - - -<small>THE INTERIOR—KNOWN AND UNKNOWN</small></h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“The central provinces of Nejd, the genuine Wahabi country, is to the -rest of Arabia a sort of a lion’s den on which few venture and yet fewer -return.”—<i>Palgrave.</i></p> - -<p>“A desert world of new and dreadful aspect! black camels, and uncouth -hostile mountains; and a vast sand wilderness shelving toward the -dire impostor’s city.”—<i>Doughty.</i></p></div> - - -<p>The region which, for want of a more definite name, we -may call the Interior includes four large districts. -Three of these have been comparatively well explored and -mapped, but the fourth is utterly unknown. These districts -are: Roba’-el-Khali, Nejran with Wady Dauasir, Nejd proper, -and Jebel Shammar.</p> - -<p>It is surprising that at the close of the nineteenth century -there should remain so many portions of our globe still unexplored. -We have better maps of the north pole and of the -moon than we have of Southeastern Arabia and parts of Central -Asia. A triangle formed by lines drawn from Harrara in Oman -to El Harik in Southern Nejd, thence to Marib in Yemen and -back to Harrara will measure very nearly 500 miles on each -of its upper sides and 800 on the base. This triangle, with an -area of 120,000 square miles is as utterly unknown to the -world at large as if it were an undiscovered continent in some -polar sea. Never has it been crossed by any European traveller -or entered by an explorer. It includes all the <i>hinterland</i> of -the Mahrah and Gharah tribes, all western Oman and the so-called -Roba’-el-Khali (literally, “empty abode”) of the Dahna -desert, as well as that mysterious region of El Ahkaf to which<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144"></a>144</span> -the Koran refers and which is said by the Arabs to be a sea -of quicksands, able to swallow whole caravans.</p> - -<p>On most maps the region in question is left blank; others -designate it as an uninterrupted desert from Mecca to Oman; -while Ptolemy’s map describes the region as producing myrrh -and abounding in Arab tribes and caravan-routes. Whatever -we know of the country at present must be the result of Arab -hearsay booked by travellers in the coast-provinces. The few -names of places given in the Roba’-el-Khali would <i>not</i> lead -one to suppose that “uninterrupted desert” was its only characteristic -feature. In the north are Jebel Athal (the Tamarisk -Mountains), and Wady Yebrin. Wady Shibwan and Wady -Habuna seem to extend at least some distance into the triangle -from the west, while, in the very centre we have the very unusual -names for a desert region Belad-ez-Zohur (Flower-country) -and El-Joz (the nut-trees). There is no doubt that a -large part of the region is now desert and uninhabited; but it -may not always have been so and may hold its own secrets, -archæological and geographical.</p> - -<p>An Arab of Wady Fatima told Doughty, what the divine -partition of the world was in the following words: “Two -quarters Allah divided to the children of Adam, the third part -He gave to Gog and Magog, a manikin people, parted from us -by a wall, which they shall overskip in the latter days; and -then will they overrun the world. Of their kindred be the -gross Turks and the misbelieving Persians; but you, the Engleys -are of the good kind with us. The fourth part of the -world is called Roba’-el-Khali, the empty quarter.” Doughty -adds, “I never found any Arabian who had aught to tell, -even by hearsay, of that dreadful country. Haply it is Nefud, -with quicksands, which might be entered into and even passed -with milch dromedaries in the spring weeks. Now my health -failed me; otherwise I had sought to unriddle that enigma.” -It still awaits solution. In Oman they say it is only twenty-seven -days’ caravan march overland to Mecca right through<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145"></a>145</span> -the desert; perhaps from the Oman highlands one could more -easily penetrate into the unknown and get safely to Riad if not -to Yemen.</p> - -<p>Nejran, celebrated as an ancient Christian province of Arabia -and sacred by the blood of martyrs, lies north of Yemen and -east of the Asir country. Together with the Dauasir-Wady -region it forms a strip of territory about 300 miles long and -100 broad, well-watered and even more fertile than the best -parts of Yemen<a id="FNanchor_43" href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a>. The intrepid traveller, Halévy (1870) first -visited this region from Yemen and found a large Jewish population -in the southern part. He visited the towns Mahlaf, -Rijlah and Karyet-el-Kabil, penetrated Wady Habuna but -could not succeed in reaching Wady Dauasir. He describes -the fertility of the Wadys and the extensive date-plantations -of this part of Arabia in terms of greatest admiration. Ruins -and inscriptions are plentiful. In Wady Dauasir the Arabs say -that the palm-groves extend three dromedary-journeys. The -people are all agricultural Arabs but, as in Oman, they live in -continual feud and turmoil because of tribal jealousies and old -quarrels.</p> - -<p>The region east of Wady Dauasir is called Aflaj or Felej-el-Aflaj, -two days’ journey distant, here there are also palm-oases. -It is six days’ journey thence to Riad, but the way is -rugged, without villages.<a id="FNanchor_44" href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> It was along Wady Dauasir that I<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146"></a>146</span> -had hoped to make the overland journey from Sana to Bahrein -in 1894, once beyond Turkish espionage the way would have -been open. According to the testimony of Halévy the inhabitants -of Nejran and Wady Dauasir are not fanatical. Nowhere -in Yemen are the Jews treated so kindly as by the Arabs -of Nejran. This entire region must also be classed with the -fertile districts of Arabia. Water is everywhere abundant -coming down from the Jebel Rian, fifteen days’ journey from -Toweyk and from the southern ranges of Jebel Ban and Jebel -Tumra. The inhabitants of Nejran and of Southern Dauasir -are heretical Moslems. They belong to the Bayadhi sect like -the people of Oman,<a id="FNanchor_45" href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> and are supposed to be followers of Abd-Allah-bin-Abad -(746 <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span>).</p> - -<p>Historically, Nejran is of special interest because here it was -that the Roman army of 11,000 men sent by Augustus Cæsar -under Ælius Gallus to make a prey of the chimerical riches of -Arabia Felix came to grief. The warriors did not fall in battle -but, purposely misled by the Nabateans, their allies, they -marched painfully over the waterless wastes in Central Arabia -six months; the most perished in misery and only a remnant -returned. Strabo, writing from the mouth of Gallus himself, -who was his friend and prefect of Egypt, gives a description of -the Arabian desert that cannot be improved: “It is a sandy -waste with only a few palms and pits of water; the acacia -thorn and the tamarisk grow there; the wandering Arabs lodge -in tents and are camel graziers.”</p> - -<p>Nejd—the heart of Arabia, the genuine Arabia, the Arabia -of the poets—is properly bounded,—on the east, by the Turkish -province of Hasa; on the south by the border of the desert<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147"></a>147</span> -near Yemama; on the west by Hejaz in its widest extent to -Khaibar; and on the north by Jebel Shammar. Thus defined -it includes the regions of El-Kasim, El-Woshem, El-Aared, -and Yemama. The “Zephyrs of Nejd” are the pregnant -theme of many an Arab poet and in these highlands, the -air is crisp and dry and invigorating, especially to the visitors -from the hot and moist coast provinces. It was such a poet -who wrote in raptures of the Nejd climate:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Then said I to my companion while the camels were hastening</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To bear us down the pass between Menifah and Demar.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">‘Enjoy while thou canst the sweets of the meadows of Nejd;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With no such meadows and sweets shalt thou meet after this evening.’</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ah! heaven’s blessing on the scented gales of Nejd,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And its greensward and groves glittering from the spring showers;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And thy dear friends when thy lot was cast in Nejd—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Months flew past, they passed and we knew not,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor when their moons were new nor when they waned.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>As to the real and prosaic features of the country, Nejd is a -plateau of which Jebel Toweyk is the centre and backbone. -Its general height above the sea is about 4,000 feet, but there -are more lofty ledges and peaks, some as high as 5,500 feet. -These highlands are for the most clothed with fine pasture; -trees are common, solitary or in little groups; and the entire -plateau is intersected by a maze of valleys cut out of the sandstone -and limestone. In these countless hollows is concentrated -the fertility and the population of Nejd. The soil of the -valleys is light, mixed with marl sand and pebbles washed -down from the cliffs. Water is found everywhere in wells at a -depth of not much over fifteen feet and often less; in Kasim it -has a brackish taste, and the soil is salty, but in other parts of -Nejd there are traces of iron in it. The climate of all Nejd, -according to Palgrave, is perhaps one of the healthiest in the -world. The air is dry, clear and free from all the malarial -poison of the coast; the summers are warm but not sultry, and -the winter air is biting cold. The usual monotony of an<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148"></a>148</span> -Arabian landscape is not only enlivened by the presence of the -date-palm near the villages, but by groups of Talh, Nebaa’ and -Sidr, the Ithl and Ghada Euphorbia—all of them good-sized -shrubs or trees.<a id="FNanchor_46" href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></p> - -<p>Nejd is pasture land, so that its breed of sheep are known all -over Arabia; their wool is remarkably fine, almost equal to -Cashmire in softness and delicacy. Camels abound; according -to Palgrave, Nejd is “a wilderness of camels.” The color -is generally brownish white or grey; black camels are found -westward and southward in the inhospitable Harra-country toward -Mecca. Oxen and cows are not uncommon. Game is -plenty, both feathered and quadruped. Partridges, quail, a -kind of bustard; gazelle, hares, jerboa, wild-goat, wild-boars, -porcupine, antelope, and a kind of wild-ox (wathyhi) with -beautiful horns. Snakes are not common, but lizards, centipedes -and scorpions abound. The ostrich is also found in -western Nejd as well as in Wady Dauasir. The Bedouin hunt -them to sell the skins to the Damascus feather merchants who -come down with the Haj every year to Mecca; forty reals -(dollars) was the price paid in Doughty’s time for a single skin—a -small fortune to the poor nomad. Mounted on their -dromedaries they watch for the bird and then waylay it, matchlock -ready to hand. The Arabs esteem the breast of the ostrich -good food; the fat is a sovereign remedy with them and half a -<i>finjan</i> (the measure of an Arab coffee-cup), is worth half a -Turkish mejidie. The ostrich is no longer as common in -Arabia as formerly, and in many parts of the peninsula the bird -is unknown even by name.</p> - -<p>Nejd is a land of camels and horses. But although a fine -breed of the latter exist it is a common mistake to suppose that -horses are plentiful in Central Arabia and that every Arab owns<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149"></a>149</span> -his steed. Doughty says “there is no breeding or sale of -horses at Boreyda or Aneyza nor any town in Nejd.” Most of -the horses shipped from Busrah or Kuweit to Bombay are not -from Nejd, although originally of Nejd-breed, but come from -Jebel Shammar and the Mesopotamian valley. He who would -know all about the beauty of the Nejd horse must visit the -Hail stables with Palgrave who “goes raving mad” about the -animals; or he can read Lady Ann Blunt’s “Pilgrimage to -Nejd” in search of horses; better still let him buy that remarkable -book by Colonel Tweedie: <span class="smcap">The Arabian Horse</span>, -<i>His country and His people</i>. In this volume the horse is the -hero and Arabs are grooms and stable-boys. The Arab is more -kind to his horse than to any other animal. No Arab dreams -of tying up a horse by the neck, a tether replaces the halter, -one of the animal’s hind-legs being encircled about the pastern -by a light iron ring or leather strap, and connected with a chain -or rope to an iron peg. Nejdi horses are specially valuable for -great speed and endurance. They are all built for riding and -not for draught, to the unprofessional eye they do not seem at -all superior to the best horses seen in London or New York -City, but I leave the matter to the authorities mentioned.<a id="FNanchor_47" href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150"></a>150</span></p> - -<p>The government of Nejd indicates what the independent -rulers of Arabia are like. Doughty testifies that the sum of -all he could learn from the mouth of the Arabs themselves of -Ibn Rashid’s government (now in the hands of Abd-el-Aziz -bin Mitaab, his nephew) was this: “He makes sure of them -that may be won by gifts, he draws the sword against his adversaries, -he treads down them that fear him and he were no -right ruler, hewed he no heads off!” Some of the nomads -consider the prince of Nejd a tyrant, but the villagers generally -are well content. Forsooth it is better for them to have -<i>one</i> tyrant than <i>many</i>, as in the days before the political upheaval -that unified central Arabia. Other of the more religious -folk of Nejd cannot forget the bloody path by which Ibn -Rashid gained his seat of power and call him “<i>Nejis</i>, (polluted), -a cutter-off of his kinsfolk with the sword.”</p> - -<p>Lavish sums in the eyes of the starved Bedouin are spent on -hospitality but all guests are pleased and depart from the pile -of rice to praise God and the Amir of Nejd. Daily, in the -guest-room, according to Doughty, one hundred and eighty -messes of barley-bread with rice and butter are served to the -men freely; a camel or smaller animal is killed for the first-class -guests and the total expense of his famous hospitality is -not over £1,500 annually. The revenues are immense and -Ibn Rashid’s private fortune had grown large even when -Doughty visited him in 1877. He has cattle innumerable and -“40,000 camels”; some 300 blooded mares and 100 horses; -over 100 negro slaves; besides private riches laid up in -silver metal, land at Hail and plantations in Jauf.</p> - -<p>Contrasted with the Turkish provinces of Arabia the subjects -of the Amir of Nejd enjoy light taxation and even the Bedouin -warriors who are in the service of the Nejd ruler receive better -wages than the regular troops of the Sultan. From the descrip-</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151"></a>151</span></p> - -<p>tion of Mr. and Mrs. Blunt and Doughty at Hail, one cannot but -feel that the government of Nejd is much more liberal and less -fanatical than it was in the old days of the Wahabis as described -by Palgrave. The old Wahabi power is now broken -forever and Nejd is getting into touch with the world through -commerce. Kasim already resembles the border-lands and the -inhabitants are worldly-wise with the wisdom of the Bombay -horse-dealers. Many of the youth of Nejd visit Bagdad, Busrah -and Bahrein in their commercial ventures. Says Doughty, -“all Nejd Arabia, east of Teyma, appertains to the Persian -Gulf traffic and not to Syria [as does western Nejd]: and -therefore the foreign color of Nejd is Mesopotamian.” He -marvelled at the erudition of the Nejd Arabs in spite of their -isolation until he found that even here newspapers had found -their way in recent years. English patent medicines are sold -in the bazaar of Aneyza and the Arabs are somewhat acquainted -with the wonders of Bombay and Calcutta. Palgrave -found the inhabitants of Kasim and southern Nejd far -more intelligent than those of the north. Except for the four -large towns of Hail, Riad, Boreyda and Aneyza, Nejd has -no large centres of population. Bedouin tribes are found -everywhere and villagers cultivate the fertile oases even in the -desert; but the population is not as dense as in Oman or -Yemen nor even as in Nejran and Wady Dauasir.</p> - -<p>Hail, the present capital of Nejd, may have a population of -ten thousand within its walls. It lies east of Jebel Aja, a -granite range 6,000 feet high ending abruptly at this point. -The city is on a table-land 3,500 feet above the sea. The -Amir’s castle is a formidable stronghold occupying a position -of immense natural strength in the Jebel Aja. Blunt visited -this place in 1878, but does not give its exact site, “lest the -information might be utilized by the Turks under possible future -contingencies.” We have three pen-pictures of Hail: -that of Palgrave who drew a plan of the city; the description -of Doughty with his plan of the Amir’s residence and</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152"></a>152</span></p> - -<p>guest-house; and the sketches of Lady Ann Blunt on her pilgrimage. -It is a walled town with several gates, a large market-place, -the palaces overtopping all and mosques sufficient -for the worshippers. It is a clean, well-built town, according -to Doughty and pleasant to live in save for the awe of the -tyrant-ruler. Its circuit may be nearly an hour, in the centre -of the walled enclosure stands the palace; near it the great -mosque and directly opposite the principal bazaar. The great -coffee-hall where the Amir gives his audiences is eighty feet -long with lofty walls and of noble proportions. It has long -rows of pillars “upholding the flat roof of ethel timbers and -palm-stalk mat-work, goodly stained and varnished with the -smoke of the daily hospitality. Under the walls are benches -of clay overspread with Bagdad carpets. By the entry stands -a mighty copper-tinned basin or ‘sea’ of fresh water with a -chained cup, from thence the coffee-server draws and he may -drink who thirsts. In the upper end of this princely <i>kahwa</i> -(coffee-house) are two fire-pits, like shallow graves, where -desert bushes are burned in colder weather; they lack good -fuel, and fire is blown commonly under the giant coffee-pots in -a clay hearth like a smith’s furnace.”</p> - -<p>The palace castles are built in Nejd with battled towers of clay-brick -and whitened on the outside with <i>jiss</i> or plaster; this in -contrast with the palm-gardens in the walled-enclosure give the -town a bright, fresh aspect. Outside the walls, the contrast of -the Bedouin squalor and the rusty black basalt rocks lying in -rough confusion is intense. Hail lies in the midst of a barren -country and is an oasis not by nature but by the pluck and perseverance -of its founders. The Shammar Arabs settled here from -antiquity and the place is mentioned in the ancient poem of Antar.</p> - -<p><i>Er-Riadh</i> or Riad (the “gardens-in-the-desert”) was the -Wahabi metropolis of Eastern Nejd and of all the Wahabi -empire. The city lies in the heart of the Aared country, enclosed -north and south by Jebel Toweyk and about 280 miles -southeast of Hail. It is a large place (according to Palgrave of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153"></a>153</span> -30,000 population!), but nothing is known of its present state, -as no European traveller has visited it since Palgrave. The general -appearance of Riad, according to our guide is like that of -Damascus. “Before us stretched a wide open valley, and in -its foreground, immediately below the pebbly slope on whose -summit we stood, lay the capital, large and square, crowned -by high towers and strong walls of defence, a mass of roofs -and terraces, where, overtopping all, frowned the huge but -irregular pile of Feysul’s royal castle, and hard by it rose the -scarce less conspicuous palace, built and inhabited by his -eldest son, Abdallah. All around for full three miles over the -surrounding plain, but more especially to the west and south, -waved a sea of palm-trees above green fields and well-watered -gardens; while the singing, droning sound of the water-wheels -reached us even where we had halted at a quarter of a mile or -more from the nearest town-walls. On the opposite side southward, -the valley opened out into the great and even more fertile -plains of Yemama, thickly dotted with groves and villages, -among which the large town Manhufah, hardly inferior in size -to Riad itself, might be clearly distinguished.... In all -the countries which I have visited, and they are many, seldom -has it been mine to survey a landscape equal to this in beauty, -and in historical meaning, rich and full alike to the eye and -the mind. The mixture of tropical aridity and luxuriant verdure, -of crowded population and desert tracts, is one that -Arabia alone can present, and in comparison with which Syria -seems tame and Italy monotonous.”<a id="FNanchor_48" href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a></p> - -<p>Undoubtedly the population of Riad has diminished since -the seat of government was transferred to Hail; at present it -has even less trade and importance than Hofhoof (Hassa) since -the Turkish occupation.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154"></a>154</span></p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Jebel Shammar</span> and the northwestern desert, remain to be -considered. The chief characteristics of this region are the -extensive <i>Nefuds</i> or sandy-deserts and the nomad population. -Jebel Shammar more than any part of Arabia is the tenting -ground for the sons of Kedar. Everywhere are the black-worsted -booths—the houses of goat-hair, so celebrated in -Arabic poetry and song. Place-names on the map of this -country are not villages or cities but watering-places for cattle -and encampments of the tribes from year to year. From the -Gulf of Akaba to the Euphrates, and as far north as their -flocks can find pasture, the nomads call the land their own. -Many of them are subject to the government of Nejd and pay -a small annual tribute; some are nominally under Turkish rule -and others know no ruler save their Sheikh and have no law -save that of immemorial Bedouin custom.</p> - -<p>Burckhardt discourses of these people like one who has dwelt -among them, tasting the sweet and bitter of their hungry, -homely life. He describes their tents and their simple furniture, -arms, utensils, diet, arts, industry, sciences, diseases, religion, -matrimony, government, and warfare. He tells of their -hospitality to the stranger; their robbery of the traveller; their -blood-revenge and blood-covenants; their slaves and servants; -their feasts and rejoicings; their domestic relations and public -functions; their salutations and language; and how at last -they bury their dead in a single garment, scraping out a shallow -grave in hard-burned soil and heaping on a few rough -stones to keep away the foul hyenas.</p> - -<p>Burckhardt devotes a considerable portion of his book to an -enumeration of the Bedouin-tribes and their numerous subdivisions. -These will prove of great service to those who visit -or cross the northern part of the Peninsula. The most important -tribe is that of the <i>Anaeze</i>. They are nomads in the -strictest acceptation of the word, for they continue during the -whole year in almost constant motion. Their summer quarters -are near the Syrian frontiers and in winter they retire into the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155"></a>155</span> -heart of the desert or toward the Euphrates. When the tents -are few they are pitched in a circle and called <i>dowar</i>, in -greater numbers, they encamp in rows, one behind the other, -especially along a rivulet or wady-bed; such encampments are -called <i>Nezel</i>. The Sheikh’s or chief’s tent has the principal -place generally toward the direction whence guests or foes may -be expected. The Anaeze tents are always of black goat’s-hair; -some other tribes have stuff striped white and black. -Even the richest among them never have more than one tent -unless he happen to have a second wife who cannot live on -good terms with the first; he then pitches a smaller tent near -his own. But polygamy is very unusual among the Bedouin -Arabs, although divorce is common. The tent furniture is -simplicity itself; camel-saddles and cooking utensils with -carpets and provision skins, are all the Arab housewife has to -look after.</p> - -<p>Since the days of Job the Bedouin have been a nation of -robbers. “The oxen were plowing and the asses feeding beside -them; and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them away, -yea they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword.” -(Job i. 14.) The Bedouin’s hand is against every man in all -Jebel Shammar to this day. The tribes are in a state of almost -perpetual war against each other; it seldom happens, according -to Burckhardt, that a tribe enjoys a moment of general -peace with all its neighbors, yet the war between two tribes is -not of long duration. Peace is easily made and easily broken. -In Bedouin parlance a salt covenant is only binding while the -salt is in their stomachs. General battles are rarely fought, -and few lives are lost; to surprise an enemy by sudden attack, -or to plunder a camp, are the chief objects of both parties. -The dreadful effects of “blood-revenge” (by which law the -kindred of the slain are in duty bound to slay the murderer or -his kin) prevent many sanguinary conflicts. Whatever the -Arabs take in their predatory excursions is shared according to -previous agreement. Sometimes the whole spoil is equally<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156"></a>156</span> -divided by the Sheikh among his followers; at other times each -one plunders for himself. A Bedouin raid is called a <i>ghazu</i>, -and it is worthy of remark that the earliest biographer of -Mohammed, Ibn Ishak, so designates the wars of the prophet -of God with the Koreish. The Anaeze Bedouin never attack -by night, for during the confusion of a nocturnal assault the -women’s apartments might be entered, and this they regard as -treachery. The female sex is respected even among the most -inveterate enemies whenever a camp is plundered, and neither -men, women nor slaves are ever taken prisoners. It is war -only for booty. The Arabs are robbers, seldom murderers; to -ask protection or <i>dakheil</i> is sure quarter, even when the spear -is lifted. Peace is concluded generally by arbitration in the -tent of the Sheikh of a third tribe friendly to both combating -tribes. The most frequent cause of war is quarrels over wells -or watering-places and pasture grounds, just as in the days of -the patriarchs.</p> - -<p>“The Bedouins have reduced robbery,” says Burckhardt, -“in all its branches to a complete and regular system, which -offers many interesting details.” These details are very numerous, -and the stories of robbery and escape given by the Arabian -chroniclers, or told at the camp-fires, would fill a volume. -One example will suffice us. Three robbers plan an attack on -an encampment. One of them stations himself behind the -tent that is to be robbed, and endeavors to excite the attention -of the nearest watch-dogs. These immediately attack him; -he flies, and they pursue him to a great distance from the -camp, which is thus cleared of those dangerous guardians. -The second robber goes to the camels, cuts the strings that confine -their legs and makes as many rise as he wishes. He then -leads one of the she-camels out of the camp, the others following -as usual, while the third robber has all this time been -standing with lifted club before the tent-door to strike down -any one who might awake and venture forth. If the robbers -succeed they then join their companion, each seizes the tail of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157"></a>157</span> -a strong leading-camel and pulls it with all his might; the -camels set up a gallop into the desert and the men are dragged -along by their booty until safe distance separates them from the -scene of robbery. They then mount their prey and make haste -to their own encampment.</p> - -<p>Before we lightly condemn the robber we must realize his -sore need. According to Doughty and other travellers three-fourths -of the Bedouin of Northwestern Arabia suffer continual -famine and seldom have enough to eat. In the long summer -drought when pastures fail and the gaunt camel-herds give no -milk they are in a sorry plight; then it is that the housewife -cooks her slender mess of rice secretly, lest some would-be -guest should smell the pot. The hungry gnawing of the -Arab’s stomach is lessened by the coffee-cup and the ceaseless -“tobacco-drinking” from the nomad’s precious pipe. The -women suffer most and children languish away. When one of -these sons-of-desert heard from Doughty’s lips of a land where -“we had an abundance of the blessings of Allah, bread and -clothing and peace, and, how, if any wanted, the law succored -him—he began to be full of melancholy, and to lament the -everlasting infelicity of the Arabs, whose lack of clothing is a -cause to them of many diseases, who have not daily food nor -water enough, and wandering in the empty wilderness, are -never at any stay—and these miseries to last as long as their -lives. And when his heart was full, he cried up to heaven, -‘Have mercy, ah Lord God, upon Thy creature which Thou -createdst—pity the sighing of the poor, the hungry, the naked—have -mercy—have mercy upon them, O Allah!’”</p> - -<p>As we bid farewell to the tents of Kedar and the deserts of -North Arabia let us say amen to the nomad’s prayer and judge -them not harshly in their misery lest we be judged.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158"></a>158</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XVI">XVI<br /> - -<small>“THE TIME OF IGNORANCE”</small></h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“The religious decay in Arabia shortly before Islam may well be taken -in a negative sense, in the sense of the tribes losing the feeling of kinship -with the tribal gods. We may express this more concretely by saying -that the gods had become gradually more and more nebulous through the -destructive influence exercised, for about two hundred years, by Jewish -and Christian ideas, upon Arabian heathenism “—<i>H. Hirschfeld</i>, in -the “Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.”</p></div> - - -<p>In order to understand the genesis of Islam we must know -something of the condition of Arabia before the advent of -Mohammed. We shall then be able to discover the factors -that influenced the hero-prophet and made it possible for him -so powerfully to sway the destinies of his own generation and -those that were to follow.</p> - -<p>Mohammedan writers call the centuries before the birth of -their Prophet <i>wakt-el-jahiliyeh</i>—“the time of ignorance”—since -the Arabs were then ignorant of the true religion. These -writers naturally chose to paint the picture of heathen Arabia -as dark as possible, in order that the “Light of God,” as the -prophet is called, might appear more bright in contrast. -Following these authorities Sale and others have left an altogether -wrong impression of the state of Arabia when Mohammed -first appeared. The commonly accepted idea that he preached -entirely new truth and uplifted the Arabs to a higher plane of -civilization is only half true.<a id="FNanchor_49" href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></p> - -<p>No part of Arabia has ever reached the high stage of civilization -under the rule of Islam which Yemen enjoyed under its -Christian or even its Jewish dynasties of the Himyarites.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159"></a>159</span> -Early Christianity in Arabia, with all its weakness, had been a -power for good. The Jews had penetrated to nearly every -portion of the peninsula long before Mohammed came on the -scene.<a id="FNanchor_50" href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a></p> - -<p>In the “Time of Ignorance” the Arabs throughout the peninsula -were divided into numerous local tribes or clans which were -bound together by no political organization but only by a traditional -sentiment of unity which they believed, or feigned to believe, -a unity of blood. Each group was a unit and opposed to -all the other clans. Some were pastoral and some nomadic; -others like those at Mecca and Taif were traders. For many -centuries Yemen had been enriched by the incense-trade and -by its position as the emporium of Eastern commerce. Sprenger -in his ancient geography of the peninsula says that: “The history -of the earliest commerce is the history of incense and the land -of incense was Arabia.” The immense caravan trade which -brought all the wealth of Ormuz and Ind to the West, must -have been a means of civilization to the desert. The tanks of -Marib spread fertility around and the region north of Sana was -intersected by busy caravan-routes. W. Robertson Smith goes -so far as to say that “In this period the name of Arab was -associated to Western writers with ideas of effeminate indolence -and peaceful opulence ... the golden age of Yemen.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160"></a>160</span></p> - -<p>The Arabs had enjoyed for several thousand years, an almost -absolute freedom from foreign dominion or occupation. -Neither the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the -ancient Persians nor the Macedonians in their march of conquest -ever subjugated or held any part of Arabia. But before -the coming of the Prophet the proud freemen of the desert were -compelled to bend their necks repeatedly to the yoke of Roman, -Abyssinian and Persian rulers. In <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> 105, Trajan sent his -general, Cornelius Palma, and subdued the Nabathean kingdom -of North Arabia. Mesopotamia was conquered and the eastern -coast of the peninsula was completely devastated by the Romans -in <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> 116. Hira yielded to the monarchs of Persia -as Ghassan did to the generals of Rome. Sir William Muir -writes, “It is remarked even by a Mohammedan writer that the -decadence of the race of Ghassan was preparing the way for the -glories of the Arabian prophet.” In other words Arabia was -being invaded by foreign powers and the Arabs were ready for -a political leader to break these yokes and restore the old-time -independence. Roman domination invaded even Mecca itself -not long before the Hegira. “For shortly after his accession to -the throne, <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> 610, the Emperor Heraclius nominated Othman, -then a convert to Christianity, ... as governor of -Mecca, recommending him to the Koreishites in an authoritative -letter.”<a id="FNanchor_51" href="#Footnote_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> The Abyssinian wars and invasions of Arabia -during the century preceding Mohammed are better known. -Their dominion in Yemen, says Ibn Ishak, lasted seventy-two -years, and they were finally driven out by the Persians, at the -request of the Arabs.</p> - -<p>Arabia was thus the centre of political schemes and plots -just at the time when Mohammed came to manhood, the -whole peninsula was awake to the touch of the Romans, -Abyssinians and Persians, and ready to rally around any -banner that led to a national deliverance.</p> - -<p>As to the position of women in this “Time of Ignorance”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161"></a>161</span> -the cruel custom of female infanticide prevailed in many parts -of heathen Arabia. This was probably due, in the first instance, -to poverty or famine, and afterward became a social -custom to limit population. Professor Wilken suggests as a -further reason that wars had tended to an excess of females over -males. An Arab poet tells of a niece who refused to leave the -husband to whom she had been assigned after capture. Her -uncle was so enraged that he buried all his daughters alive and -never allowed another one to live. Even one beautiful girl -who had been saved alive by her mother was ruthlessly placed -in a grave by the father and her cries stifled with earth. This -horrible custom however was not usual. We are told of one -distinguished Arab, named <i>Saa-Saa</i>, who tried to put down -the practice of “digging a grave by the side of the bed on -which daughters were born.”</p> - -<p>Mohammed improved on the barbaric method and discovered -a way by which not some but <i>all</i> females could be -buried alive without being murdered—namely, the veil. Its -origin was one of the marriage affairs of the prophet with its -appropriate revelation from Allah. <i>The veil was unknown in -Arabia before that time.</i> It was Islam that forever withdrew -from Oriental society the bright, refining, elevating influence -of women. Keene says that the veil “lies at the root of all -the most important features that differentiate progress from -stagnation.” The harem-system did not prevail in the days -of idolatry. Women had rights and were respected. In two -instances, beside that of Zenobia, we read of Arabian <i>queens</i> -ruling over their tribes. Freytag in his Arabian Proverbs gives -a list of female judges who exercised their office in the “time -of ignorance.” According to Nöldeke, the Nabathean inscriptions -and coins prove that women held an independent and -honorable position in North Arabia long before Islam; they -constructed expensive family graves, owned large estates, and -were independent traders. The heathen Arabs jealously -watched over their women as their most valued possession and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162"></a>162</span> -defended them with their lives. A woman was never given -away by her father in an unequal match nor against her consent. -“If you cannot find an equal match,” said Ibn Zohair -to the Namir, “the best marriage for them is the grave.” -Professor G. A. Wilken<a id="FNanchor_52" href="#Footnote_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> adduces many proofs to show that -women had a right in every case to choose their own husbands -and cites the case of Khadijah who offered her hand to Mohammed. -Even captive women were not kept in slavery, as is -evident from the verses of Hatim:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“They did not give us Taites, their daughters in marriage;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But we wooed them against their will with our swords.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And with us captivity brought no abasement.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They neither toiled making bread nor made the pot boil;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But we mingled them with our women, the noblest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And bare us fair sons, white of face.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Polyandry and polygamy were both practiced; the right of -divorce belonged to the wife as well as to the husband; temporary -marriages were also common. As was natural among a -nomad race, the marriage bond was quickly made and easily -dissolved. But this was not the case among the Jews and -Christians of Yemen and Nejran. Two kinds of marriage -were in vogue. The <i>mota’a</i> was a purely personal contract -between a man and woman; no witnesses were necessary and -the woman did not leave her home or come under the authority -of her husband; even the children belonged to the wife. This -marriage, so frequently described in Arabic poetry, was not -considered illicit but was openly celebrated in verse and -brought no disgrace on the woman. In the other kind of -marriage, called <i>nikah</i>, the woman became subject to her -husband by capture or purchase. In the latter case the purchase-money -was paid to the bride’s kin.</p> - -<p>The position of women before Islam is thus described in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163"></a>163</span> -Smith’s “Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia.” “It is very -remarkable that in spite of Mohammed’s humane ordinances -the place of woman in the family and in society has steadily -declined under his law. In ancient Arabia we find ... -many proofs that women moved more freely and asserted -themselves more strongly than in the modern East.... -The Arabs themselves recognized that the position of woman -had fallen ... and it continued still to fall under Islam, -because the effect of Mohammed’s legislation in favor of women -was more than outweighed by the establishment of marriages -of dominion as the one legitimate type, and by the gradual -loosening of the principle that married women could count on -their own kin to stand by them against their husbands.”<a id="FNanchor_53" href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p> - -<p>In “the time of ignorance” writing was well known and -poetry flourished. Three accomplishments were coveted—eloquence, -horsemanship and liberal hospitality. Orators were in -demand, and to maintain the standard and reward excellence -there were large assemblies as at Okatz. These lasted a whole -month and the tribes came long journeys to hear the orators -and poets as well as to engage in trade. The learning of the -Arabs was chiefly confined to tribal history, astrology and the -interpretation of dreams; in these they made considerable -progress.</p> - -<p>According to Moslem tradition the science of writing was -not known in Mecca until introduced by Harb, Father of Abu -Scofian, the great opponent of Mohammed, about A.D. 560. -But this is evidently an error, for close intercourse existed long -before this between Mecca and Sana the capital of Yemen -where writing was well known; and in another tradition Abd el -Muttalib is said to have <i>written</i> to Medina for help in his younger -days, <i>i.e.</i>, about 520 <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> Both Jews and Christians also -dwelt in the vicinity of Mecca for two hundred years before -the Hegira and used some form of writing. For writing materials -they had abundance of reeds and palm-leaves as well as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164"></a>164</span> -the flat, smooth shoulder-bones of sheep. The seven poems -are said to have been written in gold on Egyptian silk and -suspended in the Kaaba.</p> - -<p>In the earlier part of his mission Mohammed despised the -poets for the good reason that some, among them a poetess, -wrote satirical verses about him. The Koran says “those who -go astray follow the poets” (Surah 26: 224) and a more -vigorous though less elegant denouncement is recorded in the -traditions (Mishkat Bk. 22, ch. 10): “A belly full of purulent -matter is better than a belly full of poetry.” When two -of the heathen poets, Labid and Hassan embraced Islam, the -prophet became more lenient, and is reported to have said -“poetry is a kind of composition which if it is good, it is good, -and if it is bad, it is bad!”</p> - -<p>Concerning the religion of the heathen Arabs the Mohammedan -writer Ash-Shahristani says: “The Arabs of pre-islamic -times may, with reference to religion be divided into various -classes. Some of them denied the Creator, the resurrection -and men’s return to God, and asserted that Nature possesses in -itself the power of bestowing life, but that Time destroys. -Others believed in a Creator and a creation produced by Him -out of nothing but yet denied the resurrection. Others believed -in a Creator and a creation but denied God’s prophets -and worshipped false gods concerning whom they believed that -in the next world they would become <i>mediators</i> between themselves -and God. For these deities they undertook pilgrimages, -they brought offerings to them, offered them sacrifices and approached -them with rites and ceremonies. Some things they -held to be Divinely permitted, others to be prohibited. This -was the religion of the majority of the Arabs.” This is remarkable -evidence for a Mohammedan who would naturally be -inclined to take an unfavorable view. But his absolute silence -regarding the Jews and Christians of Arabia is suggestive.</p> - -<p>When the Arabian tribes lost their earliest monotheism (the -religion of Job and their patriarchs) they first of all adopted<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165"></a>165</span> -Sabeanism or the worship of the hosts of heaven. A proof of -this is their ancient practice of making circuits around the -shrines of their gods as well as their skill in astrology. Very -soon however the star-worship became greatly corrupted and -other deities, superstitions and practices were introduced. Ancient -Arabia was a refuge for all sorts of religious-fugitives, and -each band added something to the national stock of religious -ideas. The Zoroastrians came to East Arabia; the Jews settled -at Kheibar, Medina, and in Yemen; Christians of many -sects lived in the north and in the highlands of Yemen. For -all pagan Arabia Mecca was the centre many centuries before -Mohammed. Here stood the Kaaba, the Arabian Pantheon, -with its three hundred and sixty idols, one for each day in the -year. Here the tribes of Hejaz met in annual pilgrimage to -rub themselves on the Black Stone, to circumambulate the Beit -Allah or Bethel of their creed and to hang portions of their -garments on the sacred trees. At Nejran a sacred date-palm -was the centre of pilgrimage. Everywhere in Arabia there -were sacred stones or stone-heaps where the Arab devotees -congregated to obtain special blessings. The belief in jinn or -genii was well-nigh universal, but there was a distinction between -them and gods. The gods have individuality while the -jinn have not; the gods are worshipped, the jinn are only -feared; the god has one form; the jinn appear in many. All -that the Moslem world believes in regard to jinn is wholly borrowed -from Arabian heathenism and those who have read the -Arabian Nights know what a large place they hold in the everyday -life of Moslems.</p> - -<p>The Arabs were always superstitious, and legends of all sorts -cluster around every weird desert rock, gnarled tree or intermittent -fountain in Arabia. The early Arabs therefore marked -off such sacred territory by pillars or cairns and considered -many things such as shedding of blood, cutting of trees, killing -game, etc, forbidden within the enclosure. This is the origin -of the <i>Haramain</i> or sacred territory around Mecca and Medina.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166"></a>166</span> -Sacrifices were common, but not by fire. The blood of the -offering was smeared over the rude stone altars and the flesh -was eaten by the worshipper. First fruits were given to the -gods and libations were poured out; a hair-offering formed a -part of the ancient pilgrimage; this also is imitated to-day.</p> - -<p>W. Robertson Smith tries to prove that <i>totemism</i> was the -earliest form of Arabian idolatry and that each tribe had its -sacred animal. The strongest argument for this is the undoubted -fact that many of the tribal names were taken from -animals and that certain animals were regarded as sacred in -parts of Arabia. The theory is too far-reaching to be adopted -at haphazard and the author’s ideas of the significance of -animal sacrifice are not in accord with the teaching of Scripture. -It is however interesting to know that the same authority -thinks the Arabian tribal marks or <i>wasms</i> were originally -totem-marks and must have been tattooed on the body even as -they are now used to mark property. The <i>washm</i> of the idolatrous -Arabs seems related to their <i>wasms</i> and was a kind of -tattooing of the hands, arms and gums. It was forbidden by -Mohammed but is still widely prevalent in North Arabia among -the Bedouin women.</p> - -<p>Covenants of blood and of salt are also very ancient Semitic -institutions and prevailed all over Arabia. The form of the -oath was various. At Mecca the parties dipped their hands in -a pan of blood and tasted the contents; in other places they -opened a vein and mixed their fresh blood; again they would -each draw the others’ blood and smear it on seven stones set up -in the midst. The later Arabs substituted the blood of a sheep -or of a camel for human blood.</p> - -<p>The principal idols of Arabia were the following; ten of -them are mentioned by name in the Koran.</p> - - - -<ul class="small"> -<li><i>Hubal</i> was in the form of a man and came from Syria; he was the god -of rain and had a high place of honor.</li> - -<li><i>Wadd</i> was the god of the firmament.</li> - -<li><i>Suwah</i>, in the form of a woman, was said to be from antediluvian times.</li> - -<li><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167"></a>167</span></li> - -<li><i>Yaghuth</i> had the shape of a lion.</li> - -<li><i>Ya’ook</i> was in the form of a horse, and was worshipped in Yemen. -Bronze images of this idol are found in ancient tombs.</li> - -<li><i>Nasr</i> was the eagle-god.</li> - -<li><i>El Uzza</i>, identified by some scholars with Venus, was worshipped at -times under the form of an acacia tree.</li> - -<li><i>Allat</i> was the chief idol of the tribe of Thakif at Taif who tried to -compromise with Mohammed to accept Islam if he would not destroy -their god for three years. The name appears to be the feminine of Allah.</li> - -<li><i>Manat</i> was a huge stone worshipped as an altar by several tribes.</li> - -<li><i>Duwar</i> was the virgin’s idol and young women used to go around it in -procession; hence its name.</li> - -<li><i>Isaf</i> and <i>Naila</i> stood near Mecca on the hills of Safa and Mirwa; the -visitation of these popular shrines is now a part of the Moslem pilgrimage.</li> - -<li><i>Habhab</i> was a large stone on which camels were slaughtered.</li> -</ul> - -<p>Beside these there were numerous other gods whose names -have been utterly lost and yet who each had a place in the -Pantheon at Mecca. Above all these was the supreme deity -whom they called ὁ θεὸς, the God, or <i>Allah</i>. This name -occurs several times in the ancient pre-islamic poems and proves -that the Arabs knew the one true God by name even in the -“time of ignorance.” To Him they also made offerings -though not of the first and best; in His name covenants were -sealed and the holiest oaths were sworn. Enemy of <i>Allah</i> was -the strongest term of opprobrium among the Arabs then as it is -to-day. Wellhausen says, “In worship <i>Allah</i> had the last place, -those gods being preferred who represented the interests of a -particular circle and fulfilled the private desires of their worshippers. -Neither the fear of <i>Allah</i> nor their reverence for the -gods had much influence. The chief practical consequence of -the great feasts was the observance of a truce in the holy -months; and this in time had become mainly an affair of pure -practical convenience. In general the disposition of the heathen -Arabs, if it is at all truly reflected in their poetry, was profane -in an unusual degree. The ancient inhabitants of Mecca practiced -piety essentially as a trade, just as they do now; their<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168"></a>168</span> -trade depended on the feast and its fair on the inviolability of -the Haram and on the truce of the holy months.”</p> - -<p>There is no doubt that at the time of Mohammed’s appearance -the old national idolatry had degenerated. Many of the -idols had no believers or worshippers. Sabeanism had also -disappeared except in the north of Arabia; although it always -left its influence which is evident not only in the Koran but in -the superstitious practices of the modern Bedouins. Gross -fetishism was the creed of many. One of Mohammed’s contemporaries -said, “When they found a fine stone they adored -it, or, failing that, milked a camel over a heap of sand and -worshipped that.” The better classes at Mecca and Medina -had ceased to believe anything at all. The forms of religion -“were kept up rather for political and commercial reasons than -as a matter of faith or conviction.”<a id="FNanchor_54" href="#Footnote_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></p> - -<p>Add to all this the silent but strong influence of the Jews -and Christians who were in constant contact with these idolaters -and we have the explanation of the <i>Hanifs</i>. These Hanifs -were a small number of Arabs who worshipped only <i>Allah</i>, rejected -polytheism, sought freedom from sin and resignation to -God’s will. There were Hanifs at Taif, Mecca and Medina. -They were in fact seekers of truth, weary of the old idolatry -and the prevalent hollow hypocrisy of the Arabs. The earliest -Hanifs of whom we hear, were Waraka, the cousin of the -prophet Mohammed, and Zeid bin Amr, surnamed the Inquirer. -Mohammed at first also adopted this title of Hanif to express -the faith of Abraham but soon after changed it to Moslem.</p> - -<p>It is only a step from Hanifism to Islam. Primary monotheism, -Sabeanism, idolatry, fetishism, Hanifism, and then the -prophet with the sword to bring everything back to monotheism—monotheism, -as modified by his own needs and character and -compromises. The time of ignorance was a time of chaos. -Everything was ready for one who could take in the whole situation, -social, political and religious and form a cosmos. That -man was Mohammed.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169"></a>169</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XVII">XVII<br /> - -<small>ISLAM IN ITS CRADLE—THE MOSLEM’S -GOD</small><a id="FNanchor_55" href="#Footnote_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Islam was born in the desert, with Arab Sabeanism for its mother and -Judaism for its father; its foster-nurse was Eastern Christianity.”—<i>Edwin -Arnold.</i></p> - -<p>“A Prophet without miracles; a faith without mysteries; and a morality -without love; which has encouraged a thirst for blood, and which began -and ended in the most unbounded sensuality.”—<i>Schlegel’s Philosophy -of History.</i></p> - -<p>“As we conceive God, we conceive the universe; a being incapable of -loving is incapable of being loved.”—<i>Principal Fairbairn.</i></p></div> - - -<p>Libraries have been written, not only in Arabic and -Persian, but in all the languages of Europe, on the origin, -character and history of Islam, the Koran and Mohammed. -Views differ “as far as the east is from the west” and as far -as Bosworth Smith is from Prideaux. The earlier European -writers did not hesitate to call Mohammed a false prophet and -his system a clever imposture; some went further and attributed -even satanic agency to the success of Islam and to the -words of the prophet. Carlyle, in his “Heroes and Hero-worship,” -set the pendulum swinging to the other side so far -that his chapter on the Hero-prophet is published as a leaflet -by the Mohammedan Missionary Society of Lahore. So little -did Carlyle understand the true nature of Islam that he calls it -“a kind of Christianity.” What Carlyle said was only the -beginning of a series of apologies and panegyrics which appeared -soon after and placed Mohammed not only on the ped<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_170"></a>170</span>estal -of a great reformer but “a very prophet of God,” making -Islam almost the ideal religion. Syeed Ameer Ali succeeds in -his biography in eliminating every sensual, harsh and ignorant -trait from the character of the noted Meccan; and the recent -valuable book of T. W. Arnold, professor in Aligarh College, -India, attempts to prove most elaborately that Mohammedanism -was propagated without the sword.</p> - -<p>In contrast to this read what Hugh Broughton quaintly wrote -in 1662: “Now consider this Moamed or Machumed, whom -God gave up to a blind mind, an Ishmaelite, being a poor man -till he married a widow; wealthy then and of high countenance, -having the falling sickness and being tormented by the -devil, whereby the widow was sorry that she matched with -him. He persuaded her by himself and others that his fits -were but a trance wherein he talked with the angel Gabriel. So -in time the impostor was reputed a prophet of God and from -Judaism, Arius, Nestorius and his own brain he frameth a -doctrine.” In our day, the critical labors of scholars like -Sprenger, Weil, Muir, Koelle and others have given us a -more correct idea of Mohammed’s life and character. The -pendulum is still swinging but will come to rest between the -two extremes.</p> - -<p>We have not space to give the story of Mohammed’s life or -of the religion which he founded. An analysis of the religion -has been attempted by means of two tables, one showing -its development from its creed and the other the philosophy of -its origin from outside sources.<a id="FNanchor_56" href="#Footnote_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> The result of a century of -critical study by European and American scholars of every -school of thought has certainly established the fact that Islam -is a composite religion. It is not an invention but a concoction; -there is nothing novel about it except the genius of Mohammed -in mixing old ingredients into a new panacea for -human ills and forcing it down by means of the sword. These<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171"></a>171</span> -heterogeneous elements of Islam were gathered in Arabia at a -time when many religions had penetrated the peninsula, and -the Kaaba was a Pantheon. Unless one has a knowledge of these -elements of “the time of ignorance,” Islam is a problem. -Knowing, however, these heathen, Christian and Jewish factors, -Islam is seen to be a perfectly natural and understandable development. -Its heathen elements remain, to this day, perfectly -recognizable in spite of thirteen centuries of explanation by the -Moslem authorities. It is to the Jewish Rabbi Geiger that we -owe our first knowledge of the extent to which Islam is indebted -to the Jews and the Talmud. Rev. W. St. Clair Tisdall has -recently shown how Mohammed borrowed even from the -Zoroastrians and Sabeans, while as to the amount of Christian -teaching in Islam, the Koran and its commentators are evidence.</p> - -<p>There is a remarkable verse in the twenty-second chapter of -the Koran, in which Mohammed seems to enumerate all the -sources that were accessible to him in forming his new religion; -and at that time he seems to have been in doubt as to which -was the most trustworthy source. The verse reads as follows: -“<i>They who believe and the Jews and the Sabeans and the -Christians and the Magians</i> (Zoroastrians) <i>and those who join -other gods to God, verily God shall decide between them on the -day of Resurrection.</i>”</p> - -<p>The God of Islam.<span class="smcap"> Gibbon characterizes the first part of -</span>the Moslem’s creed as “an eternal truth “—(“there is no god -but God”); but very much depends on the character of the -God, who is affirmed to displace all other gods. If <i>Allah’s</i> attributes -are unworthy of deity then even the first clause of the -briefest of all creeds, is false. There has been a strange neglect -to study the Moslem idea of God and nearly all writers take for -granted that the God of the Koran is the same being and has -like attributes as Jehovah or the Godhead of the New Testament. -Nothing could be further from the truth.</p> - -<p>First of all the Mohammedan conception of Allah is purely -negative. God is unique and has no relations to any creature<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_172"></a>172</span> -that partake of resemblance. He cannot be defined in terms -other than negative. As the popular song has it,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Kullu ma yukhtaru fi balik</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fa rabbuna mukhalifun ’an thalik—”<a id="FNanchor_57" href="#Footnote_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Absolute sovereignty and ruthless omnipotence are his chief -attributes while his character is impersonal—that of a monad. -Among the ninety-nine beautiful names of God, which Edwin -Arnold has used in his poem “Pearls of the Faith,” the ideas -of fatherhood, love, impartial justice and unselfishness are absent. -The Christian truth “God is love” is to the learned, -blasphemy and to the ignorant an enigma. Palgrave, who certainly -was not biased against the religion of Arabia and who -lived with the Arabs for long months, calls the theology of Islam -“the pantheism of force.” No one has ever given a better account -of <i>Allah</i>, a more faithful portrait of Mohammed’s conception -of deity than Palgrave. Every word of his description -tallies with statements which one can hear daily from pious -Moslems. Yet no one who reads what we quote in all its fullness -will recognize here the God whom David addresses in the -Psalms or who became incarnate at Bethlehem and suffered on -Calvary. This is Palgrave’s statement:</p> - -<p>“There is no god but God—are words simply tantamount in -English to the negation of any deity save one alone; and thus -much they certainly mean in Arabic, but they imply much -more also. Their full sense is, not only to deny absolutely and -unreservedly all plurality, whether of nature or of person, in -the Supreme Being, not only to establish the unity of the Unbegetting -and Unbegot, in all its simple and uncommunicable -Oneness, but besides this the words, in Arabic and among -Arabs, imply that this one Supreme Being is also the only -Agent, the only Force, the only Act existing throughout the -universe, and leave to all beings else, matter or spirit, instinct -or intelligence, physical or moral, nothing but pure, uncon<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173"></a>173</span>ditional -passiveness, alike in movement or in quiescence, in action -or in capacity. The sole power, the sole motor, movement, -energy, and deed is God; the rest is downright inertia -and mere instrumentality, from the highest archangel down to -the simplest atom of creation. Hence, in this one sentence, -‘La Ilāh illa Allāh,’ is summed up a system which, for want -of a better name, I may be permitted to call the Pantheism of -Force, or of Act, thus exclusively assigned to God, who absorbs -it all, exercises it all, and to whom alone it can be ascribed, -whether for preserving or for destroying, for relative evil or for -equally relative good. I say ‘relative,’ because it is clear that -in such a theology no place is left for absolute good or evil, -reason or extravagance; all is abridged in the autocratic will -of the one great Agent: ‘sic volo, sic jubeo, stet pro ratione -voluntas’; or, more significantly still, in Arabic, ‘Kemā -yesha’o,’ ‘as he wills it,’ to quote the constantly recurring expression -of the Koran.</p> - -<p>“Thus immeasurably and eternally exalted above, and dissimilar -from, all creatures, which lie levelled before him on one -common plane of instrumentality and inertness, God is one in -the totality of omnipotent and omnipresent action, which -acknowledges no rule, standard, or limit save his own sole and -absolute will. He communicates nothing to his creatures, for -their seeming power and act ever remain his alone, and in return -he receives nothing from them; for whatever they may be, that -they are in him, by him, and from him only. And secondly, -no superiority, no distinction, no preëminence, can be lawfully -claimed by one creature over its fellow, in the utter equalization -of their unexceptional servitude and abasement; all are alike -tools of the one solitary Force which employs them to crush or to -benefit, to truth or to error, to honor or shame, to happiness, or -misery, quite independently of their individual fitness, deserts, or -advantage, and simply because he wills it, and as he wills it.</p> - -<p>“One might at first think that this tremendous autocrat, this -uncontrolled and unsympathizing power, would be far above<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174"></a>174</span> -anything like passions, desires or inclinations. Yet such is not -the case, for he has with respect to his creatures one main feeling -and source of action, namely, jealousy of them lest they -should perchance attribute to themselves something of what is -his alone, and thus encroach on his all-engrossing kingdom. -Hence he is ever more prone to punish than to reward, to inflict -than to bestow pleasure, to ruin than to build.</p> - -<p>“It is his singular satisfaction to let created beings continually -feel that they are nothing else than his slaves, his tools, -and contemptible tools also, that thus they may the better acknowledge -his superiority, and know his power to be above -their power, his cunning above their cunning, his will above -their will, his pride above their pride; or rather, that there is -no power, cunning, will, or pride save his own.</p> - -<p>“But he himself, sterile in his inaccessible height, neither -loving nor enjoying aught save his own and self-measured decree, -without son, companion, or counsellor, is no less barren for -himself than for his creatures, and his own barrenness and -lone egoism in himself as the cause and rule of his indifferent -and unregarding despotism around. The first note is the key -of the whole tune, and the primal idea of God runs through -and modifies the whole system and creed that centres in him.</p> - -<p>“That the notion here given of the Deity, monstrous and -blasphemous as it may appear, is exactly and literally that -which the Koran conveys, or intends to convey, I at present -take for granted. But that it indeed is so, no one who has -attentively perused and thought over the Arabic text (for mere -cursory reading, especially in a translation, will not suffice) can -hesitate to allow. In fact, every phrase of the preceding sentences, -every touch in this odious portrait has been taken, to -the best of my ability, word for word, or at least meaning for -meaning from the “Book” the truest mirror of the mind and -scope of its writer. And that such was in reality Mahomet’s -mind and idea is fully confirmed by the witness-tongue of contemporary -tradition.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175"></a>175</span></p> - -<p>The Koran shows that Mohammed had in a measure a correct -knowledge of the <i>physical</i> attributes of God but an absolutely -false conception of his <i>moral</i> attributes. This was -perfectly natural because Mohammed had no idea of the nature -of sin—moral evil—or of holiness—moral perfection.</p> - -<p>The Imam El Ghazzali a famous scholastic divine of the -Moslems says of God: “He is not a body endued with form -nor a substance circumscribed with limits or determined by -measure. Neither does He resemble bodies, as they are capable -of being measured or divided. Neither is He a substance -nor do substances exist in Him; neither is He an accident nor -do accidents exist in Him. Neither is He like to anything -that exists; neither is anything like to Him; nor is He determinate -in quantity nor comprehended by bounds nor circumscribed -by the differences of situation nor contained in the -heavens.... His nearness is not like the nearness of -bodies nor is His essence like the essence of bodies. Neither -doth He exist in anything; neither does anything exist in Him.” -God’s will is absolute and alone; the predestination of everything -and everybody to good or ill according to the caprice of -sovereignty. For there is no Fatherhood and no purpose of -redemption to soften the doctrine of the decrees. Hell must -be filled and so Allah creates infidels. The statements of the -Koran on this doctrine are coarse and of tradition, blasphemous. -Islam reduces God to the category of the will; He is -a despot, an Oriental despot, and as the <i>moral</i>-law is not emphasized -He is not bound by any standard of justice. Worship -of the creature is heinous to the Moslem mind, and yet -Allah punished Satan for not being willing to worship Adam. -(Koran ii. 28-31.) Allah is merciful in winking at the sins of -the prophet but is the avenger of all unbelievers in him.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A God-machine, a unit-cause</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Vast, inaccessible</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who doles out mercy, breaks His laws</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And compromises ill.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176"></a>176</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A God whose law is changeless fate,—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who grants each prophet-wish—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For prayer and fasting opes heaven’s gate,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And pardons for backsheesh.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>This is <i>not</i> “the only True God” whom we know through -Jesus Christ and so knowing have life-eternal. “No man -knoweth the Father but the <i>Son</i> and he to whom the Son -revealeth Him. He who denies the incarnation remains -ignorant of God’s true character. As Fairbairn says, “the -love which the <i>Godhead</i> makes immanent and essential to -God, gives God an altogether new meaning and actuality for -religion; while thought is not forced to conceive Monotheism -as the apotheosis of an Almighty will or an impersonal ideal of -the pure reason.” Islam knows no Godhead, and Allah is not -love.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177"></a>177</span></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h3><a id="ANALYSIS_OF_ISLAM"></a>ANALYSIS OF ISLAM AS A SYSTEM, DEVELOPED FROM ITS CREED.<br /> -<small>“There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his apostle.”</small></h3> - -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="table" style="max-width: 93.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/table.jpg" alt="table1" /> -</div> - - -<div class ="transnote"> - -<p>Transcribers Note: To fit within page and layout constraints the -Chart above has been converted into the linked tabular format. -The section beginning with A; Faith and B:Practice Appears to derrive -equally from “The Doctrine of God” and “The Doctrine of Revelation” -so has been abstracted and linked from the position the author seems -to have intended. General notes have been abstracted and displayed as -footnotes.</p></div> - - -<ul class="table"> - <li class="table"><big>The Doctrine of God</big><br /> - (Negative.)</li> - <li class="table">“There is no god but God.”<br /> - [Pantheism of Force]</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">1. His names</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table"> of the <i>essence</i>, <i>Allah</i> (<i>the absolute unit</i>)</li> - <li class="table"> of the attributes,—<i>Ninety-nine names</i></li> - </ul></li> - <li class="table">2. His attributes</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">The physical emphasized above the <i>moral</i>.</li> - <li class="table">Deification of <i>absolute force</i>.</li> - </ul></li> - <li class="table">3. His nature </li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">Expressed by a series of <i>negations</i><br /> - “He is <i>not</i>.”</li> - </ul></li> - </ul></li> - <li> <a href="#Second_Section"><big>Link to second section</big></a> </li> -<li class="table"><big>The Doctrine of Revelation:</big> - (Positive.)</li> -<li class="table">“Mohammed is the apostle of God.”<br /> -[The sole channel of revelation and abrogates former revelations.]</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table"><big>I. By the KORAN</big><br /> - (Wahi El Matlu)<br /> - Revelation, verbal, and which teaches the twofold demands of Islam:— <br /> - [The Book]</li> - <li class="table"><big>II. By TRADITION</big><br /> - (Wahi gheir Matlu)<br /> - Revelation by example of<br /> - the perfect prophet<br /> - [The Man]</li> - - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">1. Records of what Mohammed <i>did</i> - (Sunnat-el-fa’il) (example)</li> - <li class="table">2. Records of what Mohammed <i>enjoined</i> - (Sunnat-el-kaul) (precept)</li> - <li class="table">3. Records of what Mohammed <i>allowed</i> - (Sunnat-el-takrir) (license)<a id="FNanchor_58" href="#Footnote_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a>]</li> - <li class="table"> A. The Sunnite Traditions: - (collected and recorded by the - following six authorities)</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">1. Buchari A. H. 256<a id="FNanchor_59" href="#Footnote_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a>]</li> - <li class="table">2. Muslim ” 261[59]</li> - <li class="table">3. Tirmizi ” 279[59]</li> - <li class="table">4. Abu Daood ” 275[59]</li> - <li class="table">5. An-Nasaee ” 303[59]</li> - <li class="table">6. Ibn Majah ” 273[59]</li> - </ul></li> - <li class="table">B. The Shiah Traditions: - (five authorities)</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">1. Kafi A. H. 329</li> - <li class="table">2. Sheikh Ali ” 381</li> - <li class="table">3. “Tahzib” ” 466<a id="FNanchor_59a" href="#Footnote_59a" class="fnanchor">[59a]</a></li> - <li class="table">4. “Istibsar” ” 466[59a]</li> - <li class="table">5. Ar-Razi ” 406</li> - </ul></li> -</ul></li> - - <li class="table"><big>III. Other Authority</big></li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">a. Among the <i>Sunnites:</i> </li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">IJMA’A or unanimous consent of the leading companions of Mohammed concerning I.</li> - <li class="table">KIYAS or the deductions of orthodox teachers from sources I. and II.</li> - </ul></li> - <li class="table">b. Among the <i>Shiahs:</i></li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">The doctrine of the twelve IMAMS—beginning with <i>Ali</i> who interpret I. and II.</li> - </ul></li> -</ul></li></ul></li> -</ul> - - -<p class="pcntr"> <a id="Second_Section"></a><big>Second Section</big></p> - -<ul class="table"> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table"> A. Faith:<br /> - (what to believe)<br /> - “Iman”</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">1. In God</li> - <li class="table">2. Angels<br /> - (angels, jinn, devils)</li> - <li class="table">3. Books</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">Modern Moslems believe that 104 “books” were<br /> - sent from heaven in the following order:</li> - <li class="table">To Adam—ten books </li> - <li class="table"> ” Seth—fifty </li> - <li class="table"> ” Enoch—thirty </li> - <li class="table"> ” Abraham—ten </li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">These are utterly lost.</li> - </ul></li> - <li class="table"> ” Moses—the TORAH </li> - <li class="table"> ” David—the ZABOOR </li> - <li class="table"> ” Jesus—the INJIL </li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">These are highly spoken of in the Koran but are now in corrupted - condition and have been abrogated by the final book.</li> - </ul></li> - <li class="table"> ” <i>Mohammed</i>—the KORAN (eternal in origin; complete and miraculous in - character; supreme in beauty and authority.)</li> - </ul></li> - <li class="table">4. Last Day (Judgement)</li> - <li class="table">5. Predestination</li> - <li class="table">6. Prophets</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table"> A. <i>The Greater:</i></li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">Adam—“Chosen of God”</li> - <li class="table">Noah—“Preacher of God”</li> - <li class="table">Abraham—“Friend of God”</li> - <li class="table">Moses—“Spokesman of God”</li> - <li class="table">Jesus—called “Word of God and “Spirit of God.”</li> - <li class="table">MOHAMMED, (<i>who has 201 names and titles</i>)</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">Enoch, Hud, Salih,</li> - <li class="table">Ishmael, Issac,</li> - <li class="table">Jacob, Joseph, Lot,</li> - <li class="table">Aaron, Shuaib,</li> - <li class="table">Zakariah, John,</li> - <li class="table">David, Solomon,</li> - <li class="table">Elias, Job, Jonah,</li> - <li class="table">Ezra, Lukman,</li> - <li class="table">Zu-el-kifl and</li> - <li class="table">Alexander the Great,</li> - <li class="table">Elisha.</li> - </ul></li> - </ul></li> - <li class="table">B. <i>The Less:</i> Of these there have been thousands. Twenty-two are mentioned in the Koran:</li> - </ul></li> - <li class="table">7. Resurrection</li> - </ul></li> - <li class="table"> B. Practice<br /> - (what to do)<br /> - “Din” - [<i>the five pillars</i>]</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">1. Repetition of Creed</li> - <li class="table">2. <i>Prayer</i> (five times daily) including:</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">1. Purification</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">washing various parts of the body three times ac’d’g to fourteen rules</li> - </ul></li> - <li class="table">2. Posture (prostrations)</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">facing the kiblah (Mecca)</li> - <li class="table">prostrations </li> - <li class="table">genuflections</li> - </ul></li> - <li class="table">3. Petition</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">Declaration</li> - <li class="table">the Fatihah or first Surah.</li> - <li class="table">Praise and confession—the Salaam.</li> - </ul></li> - <li class="table">3. Fasting (month of Ramadhan)</li> - <li class="table">4. Alms giving (about 1-40 of income.)</li> - <li class="table">5. Pilgrimage</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table"><i>Mecca</i> (incumbent)</li> - <li class="table">Medina (meritorious but voluntary)</li> - <li class="table">Kerbela, Meshed Ali, etc., (Shiahs)</li> - </ul></li> - </ul></li> -</ul></li> -</ul></li> -</ul> - - -<div class="footnotes"> -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_58" href="#FNanchor_58" class="label">[58]</a> - Verbally handed down from mouth to mouth and finally <i>sifted</i> -and recorded by both sects:</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_59" href="#FNanchor_59" class="label">[59]</a> - Not one of them flourished until <i>three cenruries</i> after Mohammed. -</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p><a id="Footnote_59a" href="#FNanchor_59a" class="label">[59a]</a> By Abu Jaafar. -</p></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178"></a>178</span></p> - -<h3>ANALYSIS OF THE BORROWED ELEMENTS OF ISLAM.</h3> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="analysis" style="max-width: 93.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/analysis.jpg" alt="second table" /> -</div> - -<ul class="table"> -<li>I. From HEATHENISM</li> -<li class="table">(As existing in Mecca or prevalent in other parts of Arabia.)</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - - <li class="table">a. Sabeanism:</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">Astrological superstitions, <i>e. g.</i>, that meteorites are cast at the devil.</li> - <li class="table">Oaths by the stars and planets. (Surahs 56, 53, etc.)</li> - <li class="table">Circumambulation of Kaaba—and, perhaps, the <i>lunar</i> calendar.</li> - </ul></li> - - <li class="table">b. Arabian Idolatry:</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">Allah (as <i>name</i> of supreme deity), used in old poets and worshipped by Hanifs.</li> - <li class="table">Mecca—centre of religious pilgrimage—The black-stone, etc.</li> - <li class="table">Pilgrimage—<i>in every detail</i>: dress, hair offerings, casting stones, sacrifice, running.</li> - <li class="table">Polygamy, slavery, easy divorce, and social laws generally.</li> - <li class="table">Ceremonial cleanliness, forbidden foods, <i>circumcision</i>.</li> - </ul></li> - - <li class="table">c. Zoroastrianism:</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">Cosmogony—The different stories of the earth. Bridge over hell.</li> - <li class="table">Paradise—Its character—the <i>houris</i>=pairikas of Avesta.</li> - <li class="table">Doctrine of <i>Jinn</i> and their various kinds. Exorcism of jinn (Surah 113, 114).</li> - </ul></li> - - <li class="table">d. Buddhism:</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">The use of the rosary. (See Hughes’ Dict. of Islam.)</li> - </ul></li> - </ul></li> - -<li class="table">II. From JUDAISM</li> -<li class="table">(The Old Testament but more especially the <i>Talmud</i> as the source of -Jewish ideas prevalent in Arabia just before Mohammed.)</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - - <li class="table">A. Ideas and Doctrines:</li> - <li class="table">(According to the divisions of Rabbi Geiger.)</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - - <li class="table">1. Words that represent Jewish ideas</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">(and are <i>not</i> Arabic but Hebrew.) <i>Taboot</i> (ark); <i>Torah</i> (law); </li> - <li class="table"><i>Eden</i>; <i>Gehinnom</i>; <i>Rabbi</i>, <i>Abbar</i>=teacher; <i>Sakinat</i>=Shekinah;</li> - <li class="table"><i>Taghoot</i> (used hundreds of times in Koran)=error;</li> - <li class="table"><i>Furkan</i>, etc., etc., etc.</li> - </ul></li> - - <li class="table">2. Doctrinal views.</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table"><i>Unity of God.</i></li> - <li class="table">Resurrection.</li> - <li class="table">Seven hells and seven heavens.</li> - <li class="table">Final judgment. Signs of last day.</li> - <li class="table">Gog and Magog.</li> - </ul></li> - - <li class="table">3. Moral and Ceremonial laws.</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">Prayer. Its time, posture, direction, etc.</li> - <li class="table">Laws regarding impurity of body. Washing with water or with sand.</li> - <li class="table">Laws regarding purification of women, etc.</li> - </ul></li> - - <li class="table">4. Views of life</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">Use of “inshallah”; age of discretion corresponds to Talmud.</li> - </ul></li> - </ul></li> - - <li class="table">B. Stories and Legends: - (According to Rabbi Geiger.)</li> - - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">Adam, Cain, Enoch; the fabulous things in Koran are <i>identical</i> with Talmud.</li> - <li class="table">Noah—the flood—Eber (Hud)—Isaac,—Ishmael—<i>Joseph</i>. Cf. Koran with Talmud.</li> - <li class="table">Abraham—His idolatry—Nimrod’s oven—Pharao—the calf—(taken from Talmud.)</li> - <li class="table">Moses—The fables related of him and Aaron are old Jewish tales.</li> - <li class="table">Jethro (Shuaib); Saul (Taloot); Goliath (Jiloot), and <i>Solomon</i> especially. Cf. Talmud.</li> - </ul></li> - -<li class="table">III. From CHRISTIANITY</li> -<li class="table">(Corrupt form, as found in the apocryphal gospels.)</li> -<li class="table">“<i>Gospel of Barnabas.</i>”</li> - - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">1. Reverence for New Testament—Injil—(Zacharias, John, Gabriel).</li> - <li class="table">2. Respect for religious teachers; the Koran references to priests and monks.</li> - <li class="table">3. Jesus Christ—His names—Word of God, Spirit of God, etc.—Puerile miracles—<i>Denial</i> - <i>of crucifixion</i>. (Basilidians, etc.)</li> - <li class="table">4. The Virgin—Her sinlessness—and the apostles—“hawari” an <i>Abyssinian</i> word meaning “pure ones.”</li> - <li class="table">5. Wrong ideas of the Trinity. As held by Arabian heretical sects.</li> - <li class="table">6. Christian legends as of “Seven Sleepers,” “Alexander of the horns,” “Lokman” (=Æsop.)</li> - <li class="table">7. A fast month. Ramadhan to imitate lent.</li> - <li class="table">8. Alms-giving as an essential part of true worship.</li> - - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">“The Koran could not</li> - <li class="table">have been composed by</li> - <li class="table">any except God....</li> - <li class="table">Will they say he forged</li> - <li class="table">it? Answer bring therefore</li> - <li class="table">a chapter like unto</li> - <li class="table">it.”—<span class="smcap">The Koran</span>. (Surah Yunas.)</li> - </ul></li> -</ul></li> -</ul></li> -</ul> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179"></a>179</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XVIII">XVIII<br /> - -<small>THE PROPHET AND HIS BOOK</small></h2></div> - - -<p>In 570 <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> Abdullah the son of Abd el Muttalib a Mecca -merchant went on a trading trip from Mecca to Medina -and died there; the same year his wife, Amina, gave birth to a -boy, named <i>Mohammed</i>, at Mecca. One hundred years later -the name of this Arab lad, joined to that of the Almighty, was -called out from ten thousand mosques five times daily, from -Muscat to Morocco, and his new religion was sweeping everything -before it in three continents.</p> - -<p>What is the explanation of this marvel of history? Many -theories have been laid down and the true explanation is probably -the sum of all of them. The weakness of Oriental Christianity -and the corrupt state of the church; the condition of -the Roman and Persian empires; the character of the new religion; -the power of the sword and fanaticism; the genius of -Mohammed; the partial truth of his teaching; the genius of -Mohammed’s successors; the hope of plunder and love of conquest;—such -are some of the causes given for the early and -rapid success of Islam.</p> - -<p>Mohammed was a prophet without miracles but not without -genius. Whatever we may deny him we can never deny that -he was a great man with great talents. But he was not a self-made -man. His environment accounts in a large measure for -his might and for his method in becoming a religious leader. -There was first of all the political factor. “The year of the -elephant” had seen the defeat of the Christian hosts of Yemen -who came to attack the Kaaba. This victory was to the young -and ardent mind of Mohammed prophetic of the political -future of Mecca and no doubt his ambition assigned himself<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180"></a>180</span> -the chief place in the coming conflict of Arabia against the -Roman and Persian oppressors.</p> - -<p>Next came the religious factor. The times were ripe for religious -leadership and Mecca was already the centre of a new -movement. The Hanifs had rejected the old idolatry and entertained -the hope that a prophet would arise from among -them.<a id="FNanchor_60" href="#Footnote_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> There was material of all sorts at hand to furnish the -platform of a new faith; it only required the builder’s eye to -call cosmos out of chaos. To succeed in doing this it would be -necessary to reject material also; a comprehensive religion and -a compromising religion, so as to suit Jew and Christian and -idolater alike.</p> - -<p>Then there was the family factor, or, in other words, the -aristocratic standing of Mohammed. He was not a mere -“camel-driver.” The Koreish were the ruling clan of Mecca; -Mecca was even then the centre for all Arabia; and Mohammed’s -grandfather, Abd el Muttalib, was the most influential -and powerful man of that aristocratic city. The pet-child of -Abd el Muttalib was the orphan boy Mohammed. Until his -eighth year he was under the shelter and favor of this chief -man of the Koreish. He learned what it was to be lordly and -to exercise power, and never forgot it. The man, his wife and -his training were the determinative factors in the character of -Mohammed. The ruling factor was the mind and genius of -the man himself. Of attractive personal qualities, beautiful -countenance, and accomplished in business, he first won the -attention and then the heart of a very wealthy widow, Khadijah. -Koelle tells us that she was “evidently an Arab lady of -a strong mind and mature experience who maintained a decided -ascendency over her husband, and managed him with -great wisdom and firmness. This appears from nothing more -strikingly, than from the very remarkable fact that she succeeded -in keeping him from marrying any other wife as long -as she lived, though at her death, when he had long ceased to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181"></a>181</span> -be a young man he indulged without restraint in the multiplication -of wives. But as Khadijah herself was favorably disposed -toward Hanifism, it is highly probable that she exercised -her commanding influence over her husband in such a manner -as to promote and strengthen his own attachment to the reformatory -sect of monotheists.”</p> - -<p>Mohammed married this woman when he had reached his -twenty-fifth year. At the age of forty he began to have his -revelations and to preach his new religion. His first convert, -naturally perhaps, was his wife, then Ali and Zeid his two -adopted children; then his friend, the prosperous merchant, -Abu-Bekr. Such was the nucleus for the new faith.</p> - -<p>Mohammed is described in tradition as a man above middle -height, of spare figure, commanding presence, massive head, -noble brow, and jet-black hair. His eyes were piercing. He -had a long bushy beard. Decision marked his every movement -and he always walked rapidly. Writers seem to agree -that he had the genius to command and expected obedience -from equals as well as inferiors. James Freeman Clarke says -that to him more than to any other of whom history makes -mention was given:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The monarch mind, the mystery of commanding,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The birth-hour gift, the art Napoleon</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of wielding, moulding, gathering, welding, banding</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The hearts of thousands till they moved as one.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p>As to the moral character of Mohammed there is great diversity -of opinion and the conclusions of different scholars cannot -be easily reconciled. Muir, Dods, Badger, and others -claim that he was at first sincere and upright, himself believing -in his so-called revelations, but that afterward, intoxicated by -success, he used the dignity of his prophetship for personal -ends and was conscious of deceiving the people in some of his -later revelations. Bosworth Smith and his like, maintain that -he was “a very Prophet of God” all through his life and that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182"></a>182</span> -the sins and faults of his later years are only specks on the sun -of his glory. Older writers, with whom I agree, saw in Mohammed -only the skill of a clever impostor from the day of his -first message to the day of his death. Koelle, whose book is a -mine of accurate scholarship and whose experience of many -years mission-work in Moslem lands qualifies him for a sober -judgment, sees no striking contrast between the earlier and -later part of Mohammed’s life that cannot be easily explained -by the influence of Khadijah. He was <i>semper idem</i>, an ambitious -enthusiast choosing different means for the same end -and never very particular as to the character of the means used.</p> - -<p>Aside from the question of Mohammed’s sincerity no one -can apologize for his moral character if judged according to -the law of his time, the law himself professed to reveal or -the law of the New Testament. By the New Testament law -of Jesus Christ, who was the last prophet before Mohammed -and whom Mohammed acknowledged as the Word of God, the -Arabian prophet stands self-condemned. The most cursory -examination of his biography proves that he broke repeatedly -every sacred precept of the Sermon on the Mount. And the -Koran itself proves that the Spirit of Jesus was entirely absent -from the mind of Mohammed. The Arabs among whom Mohammed -was born and grew to manhood also had a law, -although they were idolaters, slave-holders and polygamists. -Even the robbers of the desert who, like Mohammed, laid in -wait for caravans, had a code of honor. Three flagrant -breaches of this code stain the character of Mohammed.<a id="FNanchor_61" href="#Footnote_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> It -was quite lawful to marry a captive woman whose relatives had -been slain in battle, but not until <i>three months after their death</i>. -Mohammed only waited three days in the case of the Jewess -Safia. It was lawful to rob merchants but not pilgrims on their -way to Mecca. Mohammed broke this old law and “revealed -a verse” to justify his conduct. Even in the “Time of Ig<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_183"></a>183</span>norance” -it was incest to marry the wife of an adopted son -even after his decease. The prophet Mohammed fell in love -with the lawful wife of his adopted son Zeid, prevailed on him -to divorce her and then married her immediately; for this also -he had a “special revelation.” But Mohammed was not only -guilty of breaking the old Arab laws and coming infinitely -short of the law of Christ, he never even kept the laws of -which he claimed to be the divinely appointed medium and -custodian. When Khadijah died he found his own law, lax as -it was, insufficient to restrain his lusts. His followers were to -be content with four lawful wives; he indulged in ten and entered -into negotiations for matrimony with thirty others.</p> - -<p>It is impossible to form a just estimate of the character of -Mohammed unless we know somewhat of his relations with -women. This subject however is of necessity shrouded from -a decent contemplation by the superabounding brutality and -filthiness of its character. A recent writer in a missionary -magazine touching on this subject says, “We must pass the -matter over, simply noting that there are depths of filth in the -Prophet’s character which may assort well enough with the depraved -sensuality of the bulk of his followers ... but -which are simply loathsome in the eyes of all over whom -Christianity in any measure or degree has influence.” We -have no inclination to lift the veil that in most English biographies -covers the family-life of the prophet of Arabia. But it -is only fair to remark that these love-adventures and the disgusting -details of his married life form a large part of the -“lives of the prophet of God” which are the fireside literature -of educated Moslems.</p> - -<p>Concerning the career of Mohammed after the Hegira, or -flight from Mecca (622 <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span>) a brief summary suffices to show -of what spirit he was. Under his orders and direction the -Moslems lay in wait for caravans and plundered them, the -first victories of Islam were the victories of highwaymen and -robbers. Asma, the poetess who assailed the character of Mo<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184"></a>184</span>hammed, -was foully murdered in her sleep by Omeir, and Mohammed -praised him for the deed. Similarly Abu Afik, the -Jew, was killed at the request of Mohammed. The story of -the massacre of the Jewish captives is a dark stain also on the -character of the prophet whose mouth ever spoke of “the -Merciful and Compassionate.” After the victory, trenches were -dug across the market-place and one by one the male-captives -were beheaded on the brink of the trench and cast in it. The -butchery lasted all day and it needed torch-light to finish it. -After dark Mohammed solaced himself with Rihana a Jewish -captive girl, who refused marriage and Islam, but became his -bond-slave. It is no wonder that shortly after, Zeinab, who -had lost her father and brother in battle, tried to avenge her -race by attempting to poison Mohammed.</p> - -<p>In the seventh year of the Hegira Mohammed went to -Mecca and instituted for all time the Moslem pilgrimage. The -following year he again set out for Mecca at the head of an -army of 10,000 men and took the city without a battle. -Other expeditions followed and up to the day, almost the hour, -of his death the prophet was planning conquests by the sword. -It is a bloody story from the year of the Hegira until the close -of the Caliphates. He who reads it in Muir’s volumes cannot -but feel the sad contrast between the early days of Islam and -the early days of Christianity. The germ of all <i>sword-conquest</i> -must be sought in the life and book of Mohammed. -Both consecrate butchery in the service of Allah. The successors -of Mohammed were not less unmerciful than was the -prophet himself.</p> - -<p>Thus far we have considered Mohammed from a critical -standpoint and have written facts. But the Mohammed of history -and the Mohammed of the present day Moslem biographers -are two different persons. Even in the Koran, Mohammed -is human and liable to error. Tradition has changed all that. -He is now sinless and almost divine. The two hundred and -one names given him by pious believers proclaim his apotheosis.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185"></a>185</span> -He is called Light of God, Peace of the World, Glory of the -Ages, First of all Creatures and names yet more lofty and -blasphemous. He is at once the sealer and concealor of all -former prophets and revelations. They have not only been -succeeded but also supplanted by Mohammed. No Moslem -prays <i>to</i> him, but every Moslem daily prays for him in endless -repetition. He is the only powerful intercessor on the day of -judgment. Every detail of his early life is surrounded with -fantastical miracles and marvels to prove his divine commission. -Even the evil in his life is attributed to divine permission or -command and so the very signs of his character are his endless -glory and his sign of superiority. God favored him -above all creatures. He dwells in the highest heaven and is -several degrees above Jesus in honor and station. His name -is never uttered or written without the addition of a prayer. -“Ya Mohammed” is the open sesame to every door of difficulty, -temporal or spiritual. One hears that name in the bazaar -and in the street, in the mosque and from the minaret. Sailors -sing it while raising their sails; <i>hammals</i> groan it to raise a -burden; the beggar howls it to obtain alms; it is the Bedouin’s -cry in attacking a caravan; it hushes babies to sleep as a cradle -song; it is the pillow of the sick and the last word of the -dying, it is written on the door-posts and in their hearts as -well as since eternity on the throne of God, it is to the devout -Moslem the name above every name; grammarians can -tell you how its four letters are representative of all the sciences -and mysteries by their wonderful combination. The name of -Mohammed is the best to give a child and the best to swear by -for an end of all dispute in a close bargain. The exceeding -honor given to Mohammed’s name by his followers is only <i>one</i> -indication of the place their prophet occupies in their system -and holds in their hearts. From the fullness of the heart the -mouth speaketh. Mohammed holds the keys of heaven and -hell. No Moslem, however bad his character, will perish -finally; no unbeliever, however good his life, can be saved ex<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186"></a>186</span>cept -through Mohammed. One has only to question the -Moslem masses or read a single volume of the traditions to -prove these statements.</p> - -<p>Islam denies a mediator and an incarnation but the “Story -of the Jew” and similar tales put Mohammed in the place of -a mediator without an incarnation, without an atonement, -without holiness. Our Analysis of the Moslem creed shows -how all the later teaching which so exalted Mohammed was -present in the germ. “<i>La ilaha illa Allah</i>” is the theology, -“<i>Mohammed er rasool Allah</i>,” the complete Soteriology of -Islam. The logical necessity of a perfect mediator was at the -basis of the <i>doctrine of Tradition</i>. Islam has, it claims, a -perfect revelation in the letter of the Koran; and a perfect example -in the life of Mohammed. The stream has not risen -higher than its sources.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">The Book of Islam</span>. When Mohammed Webb the latest -American champion of Islam spoke at the Chicago Parliament -of religions in praise of the Koran and its teaching, -Rev. George E. Post, M. D., of Beirut deemed it a sufficient reply -to let the book speak for itself. He said: “I hold in my -hand a book which is never touched by 200,000,000 of the -human race with unwashen hands, a book which is never carried -below the waist, a book which is never laid upon the floor, -a book every word of which to these 200,000,000 of the human -race is considered the direct word of God which came -down from heaven. I propose without note or comment to -read to you a few words from the sacred book and you may -make your own comments upon them afterward.” After -quoting several verses to show that Mohammed preached a religion -of the sword and of polygamy, he added: “There is -one chapter which I dare not stand before you, my sisters, -mothers and daughters, and read to you. I have not the face -to read it; nor would I like to read it even in a congregation -of men. It is the sixty-fourth chapter of the Koran.”</p> - -<p>What sort of a book is this revelation of Mohammed of which<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187"></a>187</span> -parts are unfit to read before a Christian audience and which -yet is too holy to be touched by other than Moslem hands? -A book which the orthodox Moslem believes to be uncreated -and eternal, all-embracing and all-surpassing, miraculous in its -origin and contents. A book concerning which Mohammed -himself has said, “If the Koran were wrapped in a skin and -thrown into the fire it would not burn.” Goethe described it -thus: “However often we turn to it, at first disgusting us each -time afresh it soon attracts, astounds, and in the end enforces -our reverence. Its style in accordance with its contents and -aim is stern, grand, terrible—and ever and anon truly sublime. -Thus this book will go on exercising through all ages a most -potent influence.” And Nöldeke writes, “if it were not for -the exquisite flexibility and vigor of the Arabic language itself, -which, however is to be attributed more to the age in -which the author lived than to his individuality, it would -scarcely be bearable to read the later portions of the Koran a -second time.” Goethe read only the translation; and Nöldeke -was master of the original. It is as hopeless to arrive at a unanimous -verdict regarding the Koran as it is to reach an agreement -regarding Mohammed.</p> - -<p>The book has fifty-five noble titles on the lips of its people -but is generally called <i>the Koran</i> or “The Reading.” It has -one hundred and fourteen chapters, some of which are as long -as the book of Genesis and others consisting of two or three -sentences only. The whole book is smaller than the New Testament, -has no chronological order whatever and is without -logical sequence or climax. What strikes the reader first of all -is its jumbled character; every sort of fact and fancy, law and -legend is thrown together piecemeal. The four proposed -chronological arrangements, by Jorlal-ud-Din, Muir, Rodwell -and Nöldeke are in utter disagreement. Only two of Mohammed’s -contemporaries are mentioned in the entire book and his -own name occurs only five times. The book is unintelligible -to the average Moslem without a commentary, and I defy any<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_188"></a>188</span> -one else to lead it through, without the aid of notes, and -understand a single chapter or even section.</p> - -<p>We will not stop to consider the fabulous account which -Moslems give of the origin of the Koran and how the various -chapters were revealed. Although Moslems claim that the -book was eternally perfect in form and preserved in heaven, -they are compelled to admit that it was revealed piecemeal -and at various times and places by Mohammed to his followers. -It was recorded in writing, after the rude Arab fashion, “on -palm-leaves and sheep-bones and white stones” to some extent; -but for the most part was preserved orally by constant repetition. -Omar suggested to Abu-Bekr after the battle of Yemama -that since many of the Koran reciters were slain, it would be -the part of wisdom to put the book of God in permanent form. -The task was committed to Zaid, the chief amanuensis of Mohammed -and the resulting volume was entrusted to the care of -Hafsa, one of the widows of the prophet. Ten years later a -recension of the Koran was ordered by the Caliph Othman and -all previous copies were called in and burned. This recension -of Othman, sent to all the chief cities of the Moslem world, -has been faithfully handed down to the present. “No other -book in the world has remained twelve centuries with so pure a -text.” (Hughes.) The present variations in editions of the -Arabic Koran are numerous but none of them are, in any sense -important. The present Koran is the same book that Mohammed -professed to have received from God. Out of its own -mouth will we judge the book; and we cannot judge the book -without judging the prophet.</p> - -<p>We will speak later of the poetical beauties of the Koran -and of its literary character. We do not deny also that -there are in the Koran certain moral beauties, such as its -deep and fervent trust in the one God, its lofty descriptions -of His Almighty power and omnipresence, and its sententious -wisdom. The first chapter and the verse of the throne are -examples.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_189"></a>189</span></p> - - -<ul> -<li>“In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.</li> -<li>Praise be to God, Lord of all the worlds!</li> -<li>The Compassionate, the Merciful!</li> -<li>King on the Day of Judgment!</li> -<li>Thee do we worship, and to Thee do we cry for help!</li> -<li>Guide Thou us on the right path!</li> -<li>The path of those to whom Thou art gracious!</li> -<li>Not of those with whom Thou art angered, nor of those who go astray.”</li> -</ul> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“God! there is no God but He; the living, the Eternal</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Slumber doth not overtake Him, neither sleep.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To Him belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on the earth.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The preservation of both is no weariness unto Him.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He is the high, the mighty.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The great bulk of the Koran is either legislative or legendary; -the book consists of laws and stories. The former -relate entirely to subjects which engrossed the Arabs of Mohammed’s -day—the laws of inheritance, the relation of the -sexes, the law of retaliation, etc—and this part of the book -has a local character. The stories on the other hand go back -to Adam and the patriarchs, take in several unknown Arabian -prophets or leaders, centre around Jesus Christ, Moses and -Solomon and do not venture beyond Jewish territory except to -mention Alexander the Great and Lukman (Æsop).</p> - -<p>From the analytical tables it is not very difficult to see -whence the material for the Koran was selected. Rabbi -Geiger’s book, recently translated into English, will satisfy any -reader that Hughes is nearly right when he says, “Mohammedanism -is simply Talmudic Judaism adapted to Arabia plus -the apostleship of Jesus and Mohammed.” But it is <i>Talmudic</i> -Judaism and not the Judaism of the Old Testament. For the -Koran is remarkable most of all not because of its contents but -because of its omissions. Not because of what it reveals but -for what it <i>conceals</i> of “former revelations.” The defects of -its teaching are many. It is full of historical errors and -blunders. It has monstrous fables. It teaches a false cos<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_190"></a>190</span>mogony. -It is full of superstitions. It perpetuates slavery, -polygamy, religious intolerance, the seclusion and degradation -of woman and petrifies social life. But all this is of minor -importance compared with the fact that the Koran professing -to be a <i>revelation</i> from God does not teach the way to reconciliation -with God and seems to ignore the first and great barrier -to such reconciliation, viz: <span class="allsmcap">SIN</span>. Of this the Old and New -Testaments are always speaking. Sin and salvation are the -subject of which the <i>Torah</i> and the <i>Zaboor</i> and the <i>Injil</i> (Law -Prophets and Psalms) are full. The Koran is silent or if not -absolutely silent, keeps this great question ever in the background.<a id="FNanchor_62" href="#Footnote_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a></p> - -<p>It is a commonplace of theology that “to form erroneous -conceptions of sin is to fall into still graver errors regarding the -way of salvation.” Mohammed, as is evident from his whole -life, had no deep conviction of sin in himself; he was full of -self-righteousness. His ideas, too, of God, were <i>physical</i>, not -<i>moral</i>; he saw God’s power, but never had a glimpse of His -holiness. And so we find that there is an inward unity binding -together the prophet and his book as to their real character in -the light of the gospel. With <i>such</i> ideas of God, <i>such</i> a -prophet and <i>such</i> a book, it is easy to understand why the Mohammedan -world became what it is to-day. These bare outlines -of the system of Islam are all that are necessary to indicate -its nature and genus. Allah’s character as the revealer, -Mohammed’s character as the channel of the revelation, and -the revelation itself, show us Islam in its cradle.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191"></a>191</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XIX">XIX<br /> - -<small>THE WAHABI RULERS AND REFORMERS</small></h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Nothing is so easy to appreciate as true Christian commerce. It is a -speaking argument, even to the lowest savage, for a gospel of truth and -love, and yet more to the races sophisticated by a false civilization.”—<i>Principal -Cairns.</i></p></div> - - -<p>The history of the Arabian Peninsula has never yet been -written. Many books describe certain periods of its -history from the time of the earlier Arabian rulers, but there -is no volume that tells the story from the beginning in a way -worthy of the subject. It would be interesting to search out -the earliest records and trace the Himyarite dynasties to their -origin; to learn the story of the Jewish immigrants who settled -in Medina, Mecca and Yemen even before the Christian Era; -to follow the Arabs in their conquests under the banner of the -prophet; to watch the sudden rise of the Carmathians and follow -them in their career of destruction; to search the old libraries -and rediscover the romantic story of the Portuguese, -the Dutch and the English in Arabian waters;—but our space -limits us to the story of the past century.<a id="FNanchor_63" href="#Footnote_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a></p> - -<p>To understand the present political conditions and recent -history of Arabia, we must go back to the year 1765, which -marks the rise of the remarkable Wahabi movement, which was -at the bottom of all the political changes that the Peninsula has -seen since that time. This movement was the renaissance of -Islam, even though it ended in apparent disaster, and was politically -a splendid fiasco. The Wahabi reform attracted the attention -of Turkey to Arabia; its influence was felt in India to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192"></a>192</span> -the extent of declaring a <i>jihad</i> or religious war against the government, -and compelled England to study the situation and -send representatives to the very heart of Arabia.</p> - -<p>Beginning with the Wahabi dynasty, the history of the past -century in Arabia centres in the rulers of Nejd and Oman, the -Turkish conquests and the English influence and occupation. -The strong independent government of Nejd under Ibn Rashid -and his successor, Abd-ul-Aziz, would have been an impossibility -except for the result of the Wahabi movement, in demonstrating -the weakness of Turkish rule. And it was for fear of -the Wahabi aggressions that Turkey strengthened her Arabian -possessions and invaded Hassa.</p> - -<p>Mohammed bin Abd-ul-Wahab was born at Ayinah in Nejd, -in 1691. Carefully instructed by his father in the tenets of Islam -according to the school of Hambali, the strictest of the -four great sects.<a id="FNanchor_64" href="#Footnote_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> Abd-ul-Wahab visited the schools of Mecca, -Busrah and Bagdad, to increase his learning. At Medina, -too, he absorbed the deepest learning of the Moslem divines -and soaked himself in the “six correct books” of traditions. -In his travels he had observed the laxity of faith and practice -which had crept in, especially among the Turks and the Arabs -of the large cities. He tried to distinguish between the essential -elements of Islam and its later additions, some of which -seemed to him to savor of gross idolatry and worldliness. -What most offended the rigid monotheism of his philosophy -was the almost universal visitation of shrines, invocation of -saints and honor paid to the tomb of Mohammed. The use of -the rosary, of jewels, silk, gold, silver, wine and tobacco, were -all abominations to be eschewed. These were indications of -the great need for reform. The earlier teaching of the companions -of the prophet had been set aside or overlaid by later -teaching. Even the four orthodox schools had departed from<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193"></a>193</span> -the pure faith by allowing pilgrimage to Medina, by multiplying -festivals and philosophizing about the nature of Allah. -Therefore it was that Abd-ul-Wahab preached reform not only, -but proclaimed himself the leader of a new sect. His teaching -was based on the Koran and the early traditions.</p> - -<p>This movement is chiefly distinguished from the orthodox -system in the following particulars:</p> - - -<ul> -<li>1. The Wahabis reject <i>Ijma</i> or the agreement of later interpreters.</li> - -<li>2. They offer no prayers to prophet, wali, or saint, nor visit their -tombs for that purpose.</li> - -<li>3. They say Mohammed is <i>not yet</i> an intercessor; although at the last -day he will be.</li> - -<li>4. They forbid women to visit the graves of the dead.</li> - -<li>5. They allow only four festivals, <i>Fitr</i>, <i>Azha</i>, <i>’Ashura</i> and <i>Lailat El -Mobarek</i>.</li> - -<li>6. They do not celebrate Mohammed’s birth.</li> - -<li>7. They use their knuckles for prayer-counting, and not rosaries.</li> - -<li>8. They strictly forbid the use of silk, gold, silver ornaments, tobacco, -music, opium, and every luxury of the Orient, except perfume and -women.</li> - -<li>9. They have anthropomorphic ideas of God by strictly literal interpretation -of the Koran texts about “His hand,” “sitting,” etc.</li> - -<li>10. They believe <i>jihad</i> or religious war, is not out of date, but incumbent -on the believer.</li> - -<li>11. They condemn minarets, tombstones, and everything that was not -in use during the first years of Islam.</li> -</ul> - -<p>There is no doubt that Abd-ul-Wahab honestly tried to bring -about a reform and that in many of the points enumerated his -reform was strictly a return to primitive Islam. But it was too -radical to last. It took no count of modern civilization and -the ten centuries that had modified the very character of the -Arabs of the towns not to speak of those outside of Arabia. -Yet the preaching of the Reformer found willing ears in the -isolation of the desert. As in the days of Omar, the promise -of reform in religion was made attractive by the promise of -rich booty to those who fought in the path of God and de<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194"></a>194</span>stroyed -creature-worshippers. Mohammed Abd-ul-Wahab was -the preacher, but to propagate his doctrine he needed a sword. -Mohammed bin Saud, of Deraiyah, supplied the latter factor -and the two Mohammeds, allied by marriage and a common -ambition, began to make converts and conquests. The son -of Bin Saud, Abd-ul-Aziz, was the Omar of the new movement, -and his son Saud even surpassed the father in military prowess -and successful conquest. Abd-ul-Aziz was murdered by a -Persian fanatic while prostrate in prayer in the mosque at -Deraiyah, in 1803. Saud at this very time was pushing the -Wahabi conquest to the very gates of Mecca. On the 27th -of April, 1803, he carried his banner into the court of the -Kaaba and began to cleanse the holy place. Piles of pipes, -tobacco, silks, rosaries and amulets were collected into one -great heap and set on fire by the infuriated enthusiasts. No -excesses were committed against the people except that religion -was forced upon them. The mosques were filled by -public “whips” who used their leather thongs without mercy -on all the lazy or negligent. Everybody, for a marvel, prayed -five times a day. The result of his victory at Mecca was -communicated by the dauntless Saud in the following naïve -letter addressed to the Sultan of Turkey:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Saud To Salim</span>—I entered Mecca on the fourth day of Moharram -in the 1218th year of the Hegira. I kept peace toward the inhabitants. -I destroyed all things that were idolatrously worshipped. I abolished all -taxes except those that were required by the law. I confirmed the Kadhi -whom you had appointed agreeably to the commands of the prophet of -God. I desire that you will give orders to the rulers of Damascus and -Cairo not to come up to the sacred city with the <i>Mahmal</i><a id="FNanchor_65" href="#Footnote_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> and with -trumpets and drums. Religion is not profited by these things. May the -peace and blessing of God be with you.”</p></div> - -<p>The absence of long salutations and the usual phrases of -honor is characteristic of all Wahabi correspondence. In this<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195"></a>195</span> -respect it is a great improvement on the excessive lavishment -of titles and honors so usual among Moslems, especially among -the Persians and the Turks.</p> - -<p>Before the close of the year Saud avenged his father’s death -by attacking Medina and destroying the gilded dome that -covered the prophet’s tomb. As early as 1801 parties of -plundering Wahabis had sacked the tomb of Hussein and -carried off rich booty from the sacred city of Kerbela. According -to the official inventory this booty consisted of vases, -carpets, jewels, weapons innumerable; also, 500 gilded copper-plates -from the dome, 4,000 cashmire shawls, 6,000 Spanish -doubloons, 350,000 Venetian coins of silver, 400,000 Dutch -ducats, 250,000 Spanish dollars and a large number of Abyssinian -slaves belonging to the mosque.<a id="FNanchor_66" href="#Footnote_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> Their raids and conquests -extended in every direction so that in a few years the -Wahabi power was supreme in the greater part of Arabia.</p> - -<p>A single illustration will show the great Saud’s<a id="FNanchor_67" href="#Footnote_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> prudence -and celerity in action. When he invaded the Hauran plains, -in 1810, although it was thirty-five days’ journey from his -capital, yet the news of his approach only preceded his arrival -by two days, nor was it known what part of Syria he planned -to attack, and thirty-five villages of Hauran were sacked before -the Pasha of Damascus could make any demonstrations for -defence!</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the Sublime Porte remained inactive and nothing -was done to regain the sacred territories. It was deemed impossible -to reach Mecca from Damascus with any large body -of soldiers through hostile territory where supplies were scarce. -Salvation was expected from Egypt; and it was hoped that an<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196"></a>196</span> -expedition by sea might succeed in taking Jiddah and thence -advance upon Mecca. Mohammed Ali began preparations in -1810, and in the summer of 1811 an expedition under his son -Touson Pasha was sent out from Suez. In October the fleet -arrived at Yenbo and the troops took the town. Ghaleb the -Sherif of Mecca proved false to the Wahabis and made negotiations -with the Turkish commander to hand over the town. -In January the army occupied Medina but at Bedr the troops -were attacked by Wahabis and utterly routed.</p> - -<p>All through this first campaign the cruelty and treachery of -the Turks was shocking even to the mind of their Bedouin -allies. None of their promises were kept; the skulls of the -enemy slain were constructed into a sort of tower near Medina; -Ghalib, the Sherif, was betrayed and in violation of the most -sacred promises he was taken prisoner and deported; wholesale -butchery of the wounded and mutilation of the slain were -common.</p> - -<p>A second army under Mustafa Bey advanced toward Mecca -and also took possession of Taif. Although the five cities of the -Hejaz were now in the hands of the Turks the Wahabi power -was not yet broken. Mohammed Ali Pasha himself proceeded -from Egypt with another army; he had great difficulty in -securing transportation and provisions. Finally he landed his -troops at Jiddah and went on to Mecca, planning to attack -Taraba the great Wahabi centre of the south, as Deraiyah was -the capital of the north. Here the enemy had gathered in -great numbers under an Amazon leader, a widow named -Ghalye who ruled the Begoum Arabs. She was reported to be -a sorceress among the Turks and stories of her skill and courage -inspired them with fear. When the attack was made the -Wahabis came off victorious and so harassed the army of occupation -that during 1813 and the beginning of 1814 they remained -perfectly inactive. Later the Turks made a sea attack -on Gunfida, the port south of Jiddah, and captured it. -The Wahabis however captured the wells that supplied the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197"></a>197</span> -town, made a sortie and the Turkish troops fled panic-stricken, -to their ships. Discontentment arose among the Turkish -troops. Supplies failed and wages were in arrears. Mohammed -Ali changed now his tactics and tried to bribe the -Bedouin chiefs to desert the Wahabi leaders. At this time the -Turkish army consisted of nearly 20,000 men and yet the -campaign dragged on without a definite victory.<a id="FNanchor_68" href="#Footnote_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a></p> - -<p>The greatest battle was fought at Bissel near Taif where Mohammed -Ali defeated the Wahabis with great slaughter. Six -dollars were offered for every Wahabi head and before the day -ended 5,000 bloody heads were piled up before the Pasha. -About 300 prisoners were taken and offered quarter. But on -reaching Mecca the cruel commander impaled fifty of them -before the gates of the city; twelve suffered a like horrible -death at every one of the ten coffee-houses, halting places between -Mecca and Jiddah; the remainder were killed at Jiddah -and their carcasses left to dogs and vultures.</p> - -<p>But the battle went against the Turks when they met the -desert and its terrors. Hunger, thirst, fevers and the Bedouin -robbers attacked the camp. In one day a hundred horses -died; the soldiers were dissatisfied and deserted. At length -Mohammed Ali made proposals of peace to Abdullah bin Saud -the Wahabi chief, and when Saud entered Kasim with an army -the negotiations were concluded and peace was declared. But -peace was not kept, and Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Mohammed -Pasha was despatched with a large expedition against the -Wahabis in August, 1816.</p> - -<p>While Egypt was attacking the Wahabi strongholds from the -west, with infinite trouble and dubious results, the greatest loss -the Wahabi government had yet suffered, was from a blow -dealt by the British. In 1809 an English expedition went -from Bombay against the piratical inhabitants of their chief<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198"></a>198</span> -castle and harbor, Ras-el-Kheimah. The place was bombarded -and laid in ashes.</p> - -<p>Ibrahim Pasha accomplished by intrigue and bribery what -his father failed to do by force of arms. After a series of advances -one tribe after another was detached from the Wahabi -government. At last without a battle the capital Deraiyah -was taken, Abdullah captured, sent to Constantinople and -there publicly executed on December 18th, 1818.</p> - -<p>The Turks were naturally jubilant over their success and -thought they had made an end of the hated Wahabis. They -soon learned their mistake. No sooner was the army of -Ibrahim Pasha withdrawn than the old spirit rehabilitated the -fallen empire with the old time strength of fanaticism. The -army of the Pashas could not govern or even occupy the -vast territories they had overrun. Within a few years Turki -the son of the late Amir was proclaimed Sultan of Nejd, -recovered all and more than his father’s territories, and -by the judicious payment of a small tribute and yet smaller -honor to the Egyptian Khedive retained the throne until -he was murdered in 1831. His son and successor, -Feysul, took the reins of government and was rash enough to -repudiate the Egyptian Suzerainty. Nejd was again invaded. -Hofhoof and Katif were temporarily occupied by Egyptian -and Turkish troops and Feysul was banished to Egypt.<a id="FNanchor_69" href="#Footnote_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a></p> - -<p>Feysul died in 1865, having returned from his banishment -in 1843 and ruling alone and supreme for all those years. His -son Abdullah, who had acted as regent during the later years<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199"></a>199</span> -of Feysul, succeeded to the throne. But there was a rival in -his brother Saud. Intrigues, treasons and violence were hatching -in the palace courts even before the death of Feysul. -The dagger and the coffee-cup of poisoned beverage have always -been favorite weapons in seating and unseating the rulers -of Arabia. A prolonged fight ensued between the two brothers. -Saud was at first successful but Abdullah flying to Turkey invited -the aid of that power with the result that an expedition -from Bagdad ended in formally and permanently occupying El -Hassa as a Turkish province.</p> - -<p>At the time of Saud’s death, in 1874, the conflict was renewed, -but Abdullah ultimately regained the supremacy and -was ruler at Riad until 1886, when events occurred that heralded -the rise of another power in Nejd, based on political intrigue -and the sword rather than on religion and fanaticism.</p> - -<p>When Turki the Amir was murdered by his own cousin, -Meshari, and Feysul succeeded to the throne, there was present -at Riad in the army an obscure youth from Hail, Abdullah -bin Rashid. He it was who entered the palace by stealth, -stabbed Meshari, and helped to restore Feysul to his father’s -seat as ruler. His valor and loyalty were rewarded by bestowing -upon him the governorship of his own native province -Shammar; he was also granted a small army to strengthen the -Wahabi rule in that region. He soon became almost as strong -as his master and showed himself an expert in all the intrigue -and skill possible to the Arabs. He extended his personal influence -on all sides, built a massive palace at Hail and defeated -all who plotted his destruction. Hired assassins dogged him on -the streets, but Abdullah escaped every danger and his star remained -in the ascendant. In 1844 he died suddenly, leaving -unaccomplished ambitions and three sons, Telal, Mitaab, and -Mohammed. Telal, the eldest son, was proclaimed ruler and -was ever more popular than his father had been, and no less -successful as a ruler. He strengthened his capital, invited -merchants from Busrah and Bagdad to reside there, and gradu<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200"></a>200</span>ally -but surely established his entire independence of the Wahabi -ruler at Riad. Tormented, however, by an internal -malady he shot himself in 1867. His younger brother, Mitaab, -who succeeded, ruled very briefly and was murdered by his -nephews, the sons of Telal, within a year. Meanwhile, the -third son of Abdullah bin Rashid, Mohammed, had been a -refugee at the Riad capital. But his ambitions now found -their opportunity and his true character was revealed. By permission -of the Amir Abdullah bin Feysul he went back to Hail. -He commenced by stabbing his nephew Bander who had -usurped the throne; he then killed the five remaining children -of his brother Telal and became undisputed Amir at Hail in -1868. During the next eighteen years he consolidated his -authority. His rule was after the Arab heart—with a rod of -iron and lavish hospitality; continual executions and continual -feasting.</p> - -<p>The Arabs at Bahrein tell many almost incredible tales of -Mohammed bin Rashid’s stern justice and speedy method of -executing it, as well of his cruelty to those who resisted his -will. In those days the public executioner’s sword was always -wet with blood; men were tied to camels and torn asunder; -but the desert-roads were everywhere safe and robbers -met with no mercy. As an indication of his wealth and -hospitality it is related that he constructed in the courtyard -of his palace a stone-cistern of great size always kept filled -with that best of Bedouin dainties, clarified butter (<i>dihn</i>). A -bucket and rope were at hand and oil was dealt out as freely as -water to the honored guests of the great ruler.</p> - -<p>In the year 1886 the long-looked for opportunity came for -Mohammed bin Rashid to complete the work of Telal. He -not only aspired to be independent of the Riad rulers but to -make Riad, the Saud dynasty and all the Wahabi state a dependency -of his Nejd kingdom. In that year Amir Abdullah -bin Feysul was seized and imprisoned by two of his nephews, -one of whom usurped the throne. Mohammed, as a loyal sub<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201"></a>201</span>ject, -marched to the rescue, deposed the pretender, but carried -the Amir himself to Hail, leaving a younger brother as his -deputy governor. The great empire of the Sauds was virtually -ended; henceforth it was the green and purple banner of -Rashid and not the red and white standard of the Wahabis -that ruled all central Arabia.</p> - -<p>Mohammed bin Rashid had shown supreme diplomatic ability -in all his dealings with the Turks from the day of his -power until his death. He humored their vanity by professing -himself an ally of the Porte; he paid a small annual tribute to -the Sherif of Mecca in recognition of the Sultan. But for the -rest he never loved the Turk except at a good distance. None -of the Arabs of the interior have forgotten the perfidy, treachery -and more than Arab cruelty of the Egyptian Pashas in -their campaigns.</p> - -<p>In 1890 a final attempt was made by the partisans of the old -dynasty to rebel against the Amir and secure the independence -of Riad. It was fruitless; and the severe defeat of the rebels -proved it final. In the year 1897 Mohammed bin Rashid died -and his successor Abd-el-Aziz bin Mitaab now rules his vast -dominions. He is less stern but not less able than his illustrious -predecessor.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202"></a>202</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XX">XX<br /> - -<small>THE RULERS OF OMAN</small></h2></div> - - -<p>Before we turn to the history of the Turks in Arabia a word -is necessary regarding the rulers of Oman—that province -unique in Arabia for its isolation from all the other provinces in -the matter of politics. Prior to the appearance of the Portuguese -in the Persian Gulf (1506) Oman had been governed for -nine hundred successive years by independent rulers called -Imams; elected by popular choice and not according to family -descent. From that time until 1650 the Portuguese remained in -power at Muscat. In 1741 Ahmed bin Said, a man of humble -origin, a camel-driver, rose by his bravery to be governor of -Sohar, drove the Persians who had succeeded the Portuguese, -out of Muscat and founded the dynasty that has ever since -ruled Oman. As early as 1798 the East India Company made -a treaty with the Sultan of Muscat to exclude the French from -Oman. This fact is important to show the character of the -recent incident at Muscat.</p> - -<p>Seyid Said, who ruled from 1804 to 1856, had constant struggles -against the Wahabi power who threatened his territory. -With England he joined the war against the Wahabi pirates; -and made treaties in 1822, 1840 and 1845 to suppress the -slave-trade. On the death of Said the Sultanate of Oman and -Zanzibar was divided. Seyid Thowani reigned at Muscat -while a younger brother reigned at Zanzibar. Thowani was -assassinated at Sohar in 1866. Salim, his son, succeeded him, -although he was suspected of patricide. Then there was an -interregnum under a usurper until Seyid Turki another son of -Said took the throne in 1871. Continual rebellion marked his -period of rule. But he was friendly to the English and in re<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203"></a>203</span>turn -for the abolition of free traffic of slaves between Africa and -Zanzibar the English government allowed him an annual subsidy -of a little over £6,000 a year. In 1888 the Sultan died -and his son, Feysul bin Turki, succeeded him. His rule was -mild, from the palace at Muscat his influence was not far-reaching; -rebellions, inter-tribal wars and plots of one mountain-chief -against another mark all the years of his reign up to -date. In February, 1895, there was a serious Bedouin uprising -in which the Arabs took the town and looted it. The Sultan -himself barely escaped and was for a time a prisoner in his fort -while the town was in the hands of the enemy. The cause of -the trouble was a difference as to the amount of yearly tribute -a certain Sheikh Saleh of Samed should pay the Muscat ruler. -From November, 1894, the rebels collected arms and strengthened -their numbers until on February 12th of the following -year they were ready to strike the desired blow. As this -episode was characteristic of all Arab warfare we quote a brief -account of it sent at the time by a resident at Muscat to the -Bombay press:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“On February 12th Abdullah, the leader of his father’s -(Sheikh Saleh’s) troops, with a retinue of perhaps 200 armed -Bedouins arrived at Muscat in a scattered and peaceable manner, -and obtained an audience with the Sultan. A musket -salute was fired, and no attack was thought of. The Sultan -presented the leader with a purse of $400 and a liberal allowance -of rice, dates, coffee, and the famous Muscat “halwa” -for the men. The Bedouins although armed were allowed to -go and come as they choose and no attack was feared. Sheikh -Abdullah himself sat for a time in the bazaar and received the -salaams of the people who kissed his hand in respect. When -evening came the Sultan requested the men to encamp outside -of the gates, the only means of entrance and exit through the -old Portuguese walls. Although failing to comply with the request -the Bedouins claimed none but peaceful intentions. At -8 <span class="allsmcap">P. M.</span> when according to custom the gates were closed, per<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204"></a>204</span>haps -one-half of the Bedouins were within the walls. This was -their Trojan horse. Shortly after midnight the gates were attacked, -the few customary guards being easily overcome, and -thrown open to the large numbers of Bedouins who up to this -time had been hiding in a neighboring mosque. Both the -small gate leading to the bazaar and the larger one to the west -of the town were easily taken, and the Bedouins then advanced -to the Sultan’s palace, effected an entrance and rudely -awoke the Sultan and his family from their sleep. Seyyidi -Esel after a courageous struggle of a few minutes, (in which he -shot two of the attacking party,) escaped by a small door opening -to the sea and fled to one of the two forts which command -the city as well as the harbor. His brother escaped to the -other. Each of these forts is manned by a force of perhaps -fifty men and has several old twelve pounder Portuguese guns.</p> - -<p>“The forts opened fire at once upon the palace which the -Bedouins now occupied. The Bedouins took possession of the -town closing the gates and stationing armed men through the -bazaar and streets in the early hours of the 13th of February.</p> - -<p>“A few shops containing muskets and ammunition were -opened, and the contents robbed. The Sultan’s palace was -completely looted and all his personal property either destroyed -or sold at any price. On account of the suddenness of the -attack there was but a small number of the Sultan’s soldiers in -readiness. These repaired to the forts and opened fire upon -the Bedouin invaders with both the guns of the foils and muskets. -For three days we were the witnesses of the extraordinary -spectacle of a Sultan bombarding his own palace; no attempt -was made to meet the rebels on the streets. By order -of the invading captain the portion of the town inhabited by -British subjects was not entered. Until Sunday evening things -remained about the same. The attack from the forts was continued -day and night. The Bedouins did not answer the fire -but remained in the palace and streets holding possessions but -making no attack on the forts. Within the town, although it is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205"></a>205</span> -in possession of the enemy, all was orderly and quiet. Unarmed -people were allowed to pass to and fro and guards were -stationed in the bazaar to prevent plunder. Reinforcements -were expected by both parties. On Monday morning a body -of about 1,000 arrived from the coast towns in aid of the Sultan. -They encamped beneath the fort in command of the Sultan, -and at about 8 <span class="allsmcap">A. M.</span> made an attack on the invaders, -which became so serious a danger to the British subjects that -the Political Agent Major J. H. Sadler ordered a cessation of -hostilities at 1 <span class="allsmcap">P. M.</span> until 8 <span class="allsmcap">P. M.</span> giving the British subjects an -opportunity to sojourn to the sheltered village of Makalla. -More reinforcements to the Sultan’s troops arrived at 6 <span class="allsmcap">P. M.</span> -and encamped beneath the fort throwing temporary barricades -across the streets at several advantageous points. The main -body of the Bedouins were waiting to reinforce just outside -Matral which village was however still in the hands of the Sultan. -At 8 <span class="allsmcap">A. M.</span> on Monday H. M. S. Sphina arrived from -Bushire and at 2 <span class="allsmcap">P. M.</span> the R. I. M. S. Lawrence.” -</p> -<p>The British gunboats, contrary to the expectations and fond -hopes of the population of Muscat, did not interfere in the -matter. For reasons of diplomacy they left the Sultan to fight -his own battles and when the rebels were finally persuaded to -leave saddled the poor Sultan with a large bill for the damage -incurred by British subjects during the attack.</p> - -<p>In 1894 a French consulate was established at Muscat; as -the French have no commerce to speak of in this part of the -world the object of the consulate was evidently political. Of -the intrigues that resulted, the alleged sale of a coaling-station -to France and the British attitude toward the matter we will -speak later.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206"></a>206</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XXI">XXI<br /> - -<small>THE STORY OF THE TURKS IN ARABIA</small></h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“No one travels in Turkey with his eyes open without seeing that her -government is a curse on mankind. Fears, feuds and fightings make -miserable the councils of her rulers. They are bloodsuckers fastened on -the people throughout her dominions drawing from each and all the last -drop of blood that can be extracted. Turkey skillfully and systematically -represses what Christian nations make it their business to nurture in all -mankind as manhood. In her cities there are magnificent palaces for her -sultans and her favorites. But one looks in vain through her realm for -statues of public benefactors. There are no halls where her citizens could -gather to discuss policies of government or mutual obligations. Their -few newspapers are emasculated by government censors. Not a book in -any language can cross her borders without permission of public officers, -most of whom are incapable of any intelligent judgment of its contents. -Art is scorned. Education is bound. Freedom is a crime. The tax -gatherer is omnipotent. Law is a farce. Turkey has prisons instead of -public halls for the education of her people. Instruments of torture are -the stimulus to their industries.”—<i>The Congregationalist</i>, April 8, 1897.</p></div> - - -<p>In reviewing the story of the Turks in Arabia, we will -begin with Hejaz, the most important province of Turkey -in Arabia, continue with Yemen, the most populous, and end -with the Mesopotamian vilayets which were her richest possessions.</p> - -<p>It is not generally understood how highly the Sultan values -his Arabian provinces. It is on them and on them alone that -he can base his claim to the title of caliph. The possession of -the Holy Cities in the hands of the Sultan makes him the -chief Mohammedan ruler; there his name is blessed daily in -the great mosques; in the eyes of all the pilgrims from every<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207"></a>207</span> -part of the Moslem world Turkey is the guardian of the Kaaba. -How many thousands of Mohammedans daily in the mosques -of India and Java call for blessings on the head of Abd-ul-Hamid -the Caliph who would never pray for Abd-ul-Hamid -the Sultan.</p> - -<p>Mecca, and Hejaz generally, was governed by the early Caliphs -until 980 <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span>, when it passed under the rule of the first Sherif, -Jaafar.<a id="FNanchor_70" href="#Footnote_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> Under Suleiman the magnificent (1520-1566) the Ottoman -Empire reached the zenith of its power and greatness; at -that time Arabia too was reckoned a Turkish possession, and the -entire peninsula was included on the maps of Turkish Asia. -But, as we have seen, at the beginning of the present century -the Wahabis and not the Turks were the real rulers of Arabia. -The Arabs have never taken kindly to the rule of the Turk, -but the province of Hejaz, once snatched from the hand of the -Wahabis, has ever since been held by the Sublime Porte. Plots -of rebellion have been thick and Sherifs have succeeded Sherifs -but the fort that frowns over Mecca has always a strong Turkish -garrison and the Pashas eat the fat of the land at the expense -of the people.</p> - -<p>Actual Turkish rule was declared over the whole of Hejaz -in 1840. At that time Abd-el-Mutalib was made Great Sherif -of Mecca, but there was continual trouble between the Sherif -and the Pasha. The religious head of the holy city would not -bow to the political head; the anti-slave trade regulations although -only very slightly enforced caused riots. The Sherif -was deposed and Mohammed bin ’Aun declared ruler in his -place. On June 15th, 1858, the murder of certain Christians -at Jiddah brought England into collision with the rulers of -Hejaz. Jiddah was bombarded and the gate to the holy -city was held by the Christian powers until the required -indemnity was paid and the murderers punished. The -next Sherif appointed was Abdullah. During his time the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_208"></a>208</span> -opening of the Suez Canal brought Turkey much nearer to -Mecca and inspired the religious zealots with the fear that -now the Christian fleets would attack the whole coast of -Hejaz! For had not the vizier of Haroun el Rashid dissuaded -that monarch from his plan to dig the canal lest the -gateway to the Holy Cities would then be too accessible to the -infidels?</p> - -<p>The Ottoman government introduced other horrors into the -quiet seclusion of the ancient city of Mecca; Jiddah was connected -with the Red Sea cable; a wire carried the world to -Mecca and put the Pasha in daily touch with the Sublime -Porte; afterward it was extended to Taif, and the Turks were -masters of their own army corps, so that the Sherifs could not -act in secret. It was even attempted to raise a Meccan regiment -for the Russian war.</p> - -<p>In 1869 the whole complicated bureaucratic system was -introduced at Medina, Jiddah, Mecca and Taif. Abdullah was a -great favorite as Sherif, both to the Arabs and the Turks; he was -mild and given to all sorts of compromise so that he managed -to please both parties which are always at war in Mecca. His -brother Husein succeeded as Sherif but was murdered in 1880. -In the same year the aged Abd-el-Mutalib for the third time -became Sherif and although at first very popular he soon won -the hatred of the conservative Meccans by his cruelty and of -the Turks by his double-dealing. On request of the people -of Mecca for his deposition, Othman Pasha came to Hejaz and -although he did not depose the aged Sherif, managed to outwit -him in governing the city. In 1882 Aun-er-Rafik, a brother -of Husein, became Sherif. Troubles between the dual powers -of government became thick and the Bedouin tribes took the -occasion for a general uprising. Rafik fled to Medina and -could not return until Othman Pasha was deposed. Since -then the old struggle continues.</p> - -<p>The Arabs in Hejaz have no love for the Turks or for any -Turkish ruler; the Bedouin tribes hate the very sight of a red<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_209"></a>209</span> -fez and the town-dweller is ground down with taxation. Aside -from militarism there have been no public improvements in -either of the Holy Cities since the Star and Crescent waved -from their forts. The “pantaloon-wearing” Turks are considered -little better than “Christian dogs” by the pious folk -of Mecca. Have they not introduced the abomination of -quarantine instead of the old time simple trust in Allah? -Have they not acquiesced to the residence of Christian consuls -at Jiddah? And what is worse, have they not interfered with -the free importation of slaves and the manufacture of eunuchs -for the residents of Mecca?</p> - -<p>The following literal translation of a placard posted everywhere -in Mecca, at the end of the year 1885, may give the -best insight into the relations that exist between the Turk and -the Arab in the cradle of Islam:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“‘And who does not rule according to the revelation of Allah he is an -infidel.’—<i>Koran</i> v. 48.</p> - -<p>“Be it known to you, ye people of Mecca, that this accursed Wali intends -to introduce Turkish laws into the holy city of Allah, therefore -beware of sloth and awake from sleep. Do not suffer the laws to be executed -for they are only the opening of the door to further legislation. -Our proof is that the Wali Othman Pasha proposed his plan to divide -Mecca into four quarters and to appoint three officers for each quarter. -This plan he laid before the city council and when they declared it was -impossible to do this in Mecca the accursed replied, Is Mecca better -than Constantinople? We will carry the plan through by force. For -this reason, O Meccans, an association has been formed called the Moslem -Club and whoever desires to enter it let him make inquiries. The -object of the association is to assassinate this cursed Wali and his chief of -police. He who cannot join us let him utter his complaint before Allah -in the holy house that the public safety is endangered while the present -ruler lives. And this cursed Wali also attempts to secure the administration -of the annual corn-shipment from Egypt. And remember also -how the accursed butchered the sons of the Sherif and his slaves and exposed -their heads at Mecca. What sort of deeds are these? More -atrocious than those at Zeer. So that whoever kills this man will -enter paradise without rendering an account. The purpose of dividing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_210"></a>210</span> -the city appointing Sheikhs for each quarter is nothing else than a pretext -for new taxations as the Cursed himself let out before the council.</p> - -<p class="pcntr"> -“In the name of the</p> -<p class="psig"> -“<span class="smcap">Jemiat-el-Islamiyeh</span>.” -</p></div> - -<p>The same people who promised paradise to the murderer of -Othman Pasha rebelled against his successor Safwet Pasha and -will rebel as long as the character of the Meccan remains what -it is. Those who dream that the Turk will make Mecca the -centre of their power when Constantinople falls, know not the -condition of affairs among the proud fanatics of Hejaz who -will never allow Mecca to become anything but the city of the -Sherifs. And as for the Bedouin tribes, they blackmail every -pilgrim caravan and draw heavy subsidies from Constantinople -to keep the peace. Jiddah is in decay and the pilgrim-traffic -is not as flourishing as it was a decade ago. Even in Hejaz -the days of Ottoman rule are numbered.</p> - -<p>Between Hejaz and Yemen is the region of Asir. Its population -has been celebrated from the earliest times for personal -bravery and courage. Mountain-dwellers they love freedom; -belonging to the Zaidee sect they hate the Sunnites. And these -two reasons united made them abominate the Turks. In order -to extend Ottoman power southward and reconquer Yemen for -the Sublime Porte it was necessary to pass through the territory -of the Asir Arabs. From 1824 to 1827 the Turkish troops -carried six successive campaigns against the brave highlanders -but were in every case repulsed with great loss. In 1833 and -1834 the attempt was again made; a desperate battle was -fought on August 21st of the latter year, the Turkish troops -were victorious. But the Arabs rallied, made sorties on the -garrisons, famine reigned, fever killed off many and in September -the Turks again withdrew, defeated. In 1836 a final attempt -was made to conquer Asir; this was with greater loss than ever -before. To this day the entire region between Taiz and Roda -(a few miles north of Sana) is really independent, although -marked as Turkish on the maps. The Ottoman troops are bold<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_211"></a>211</span> -to fight the Yemen Arabs to the very gate of Sana but they grow -pale when they hear of an expedition against the dare-devil -Bedouins of Asir who fight with the ferocity of the American -Indian and the boldness of a Scotch Highlander.</p> - -<p>The story of the Turks in Yemen is very modern. In 1630 -they were compelled to evacuate Yemen by the Arabs and they -did not set foot in the capital again until 1873. In 1871 the -Imam of Yemen lived his life in peace, secluded and sensual -like an oriental despot in the palace at Sana. Looked upon by -the Arabs as a spiritual Sultan he was great, but also powerless -to hold in check the depredations and robberies of the many -tribes under his nominal sway. Things went from bad to worse. -Trade almost ceased on account of the attacks on the caravans -that left for the coast. The Sana merchants, quiet and respectable -Arabs, saw nothing but ruin before them, and considering -solely the benefits that would accrue to themselves by such a -step invited the Turks to take the place. They did not consult -the large agricultural population or the effect of Turkish rule on -the peasantry, otherwise there would have been an equally cordial -invitation to the Turks to stay out of Yemen.</p> - -<p>The Turks needed no urging at this time, when they were -strengthening their hold on Mesopotamia, extending their conquests -in Hassa and trying to obtain the mastery of the Hejaz -Bedouins. It fell in most admirably with their plans, and an -expedition set out at once. In March, 1872, an army under -command of Ahmed Mukhtar Pasha reached Hodeidah. On -April 25th the army entered Sana twenty thousand strong and -the city opened its gates without a battle. The conquest of the -country now proceeded; a force was sent to the region of -Kaukeban, north of Sana, another to the southern district of -Anes and still another to Taiz and Mocha. The conquest toward -the south was limited by the presence of England at Aden. -For when the Turkish army advanced to the domain of the -independent Sultan of Lahaj who had a treaty with England, -the British Resident at Aden sent a small force of artillery and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_212"></a>212</span> -cavalry to occupy the Lahaj territory. In consequence of representations -made at the same time by the English government -to the Sublime Porte, the Turkish army withdrew in December, -1873. In 1875 the tribes bordering the southern boundary -of Yemen rebelled against Turkey but the rebellion was -crushed.</p> - -<p>When the army took Sana the Imam was deposed, but on account -of his religious influence over the Arabs was permitted to -reside in the city, receiving a pension on condition that he -would exert himself in behalf of Ottoman rule. This he fulfilled -until his death when the birthright as Imam passed to his -relative Ahmed-ed-Din who also was nothing loth to receive the -honor of the Arabs and the money of the Turks.</p> - -<p>Sana received a certain amount of civilization, more prestige -and still more commercial prosperity than in the older days. -As for the country in general it was divided and subdivided into -provincial districts and sub-districts; the peasantry were taxed -and taxed again; military roads were constructed by forced -labor. The hill-tribes, who in the times of the Imam had been -left undisturbed in their agriculture and who boasted an independence -of centuries, were now little better than slaves. Extortion -ruined them, they hated the personality of the Turks -whose religion was not as their own; discontent smouldered -everywhere and was ready to burst into a flame. And this discontent -was increased from year to year as the caravan-drivers -returned from their long journeys to Aden and told of the greatest -marvel ever heard of—a righteous government and a place -where justice could not be <i>bought</i>, but belonged to every one—even -the black skinned ignorant Somali. When we remember -that over 300,000 camels with their drivers enter Aden from the -north every year we can realize how widespread was this news. -I can testify to the world-wide difference between the municipal -government of Aden cantonment and that of the capital of -Yemen under the Turks as I saw it in 1891. When the Turks -accused England of fomenting the recent rebellions in Yemen<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_213"></a>213</span> -they were right to the extent that if the Yemen peasantry had -not seen the blessed union of liberty and law at Aden they would -not seek to rise against the Turks.</p> - -<p>In the summer of 1892 a body of 400 Turkish troops were -sent to collect by force the taxes due from the Bni Meruan who -inhabit the coast north of Hodeidah. The Turks were surprised -by a large body of Arabs and nearly annihilated. -Wherever the news travelled the people rose in arms. Tribal -banners long laid away were unfurled and the cry “long live -the Imam” rang through mountain and valley. A new Jehad -was proclaimed and Ahmed-ed-Din was unwillingly forced to -take the leadership against the Turks. When the rebellion -broke out the Turks had only about 15,000 men in the whole -of Yemen; and cholera had wrought havoc among these. Ill-fed, -ill-clothed, and unpaid; badly housed in the rainy and -cold mountain villages, they could nevertheless fight like devils -when led by their commanders. The Imam escaped from Sana, -and a few days later the capital was besieged by an enormous -force of Arabs. All the unwalled cities fell an easy prey to -the rebels, Menakha was taken after a short struggle; Ibb, -Jibleh, Taiz, and Yerim all declared themselves for the Imam. -The Arabs treated their foes with respect after their victory;<a id="FNanchor_71" href="#Footnote_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> -they were feeding Turkish prisoners at the Imam’s expense and -in many cases money was given the soldiers to enable them to -escape to Aden.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile telegrams were sent to Constantinople from Sana -and Hodeidah beseeching assistance. The whole of Yemen, -with the exception of the capital and two smaller towns in the -north with Hodeidah on the coast, was in the hands of the -rebels. An expedition reached Hodeidah, under command of -Ahmed Feizi Pasha, formerly governor of Mecca, which after -bombarding the villages on the coast north of Hodeidah, -marched to the relief of Sana. Without opposition the army<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_214"></a>214</span> -reached Menakha and took the town by storm; matchlocks -and fuse-guns could not hold out against field-guns and trained -troops. About thirty miles beyond a desperate attempt was -made to stop the army of relief; in a narrow defile the rebels -under Seyid es-Sherai took up their position and for twelve -days withstood cavalry, infantry and artillery assaults; then -they were driven back and retired into the mountains. By -hurried marches the troops reached Sana and took the city. -Military law was proclaimed and a universal massacre of -prisoners took place. A reward was offered for the head of -every rebel. Camel-loads of heads were brought into Sana -every day. The troops were turned loose to plunder the villages. -There is no nation in the world that can put down a -rebellion as rapidly as the Turks when they have a good-sized -army, but they have great objection to any one seeing the -process.</p> - -<p>By the end of January, 1893, all the cities of Yemen were -reconquered and the main roads were again open. But the -spirit of rebellion lived on and the brave mountaineers withdrew -to the inaccessible defiles and peaks only to plot further -mischief. Telegraph-wires were cut; soldiers were shot on the -road; and once and again bold attempts were made to blow -up the Pasha’s house in Sana with gunpowder. In 1895 there -was rebellion in the north. In 1897-98 all Yemen was again -in arms and the uncertain and conflicting reports that reach -the coast only emphasize the serious character of the uprising.</p> - -<p>On the map and in Turkish official reports the boundaries -of Yemen join those of Hejaz and extend many miles <i>east</i> of -Sana. This has never been and is not now correct. Twenty-five -miles north and east of Sana there is no one who cares for -a Turkish passport or dares to collect Turkish taxes.</p> - -<p>As to the future of Turkey in Yemen it is difficult to surmise. -Rather than risk further rebellions the Sultan may -adopt a conciliatory policy. But Yemen is too far from Con<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_215"></a>215</span>stantinople -to be governed from there. Extortion is the only -way open to a Pasha to enrich himself and for soldiers to get -daily bread where wages are not paid on time. When the -Pasha has filled his pocket his successor will try it a second -time and come to grief. Rebellion will be the chronic state -of Yemen as long as Turkey rules at Sana. The leopard cannot -change his spots.</p> - -<p>We now turn to notice the rule of the Turks in Northeastern -Arabia, and in their newly-acquired province of Hassa. -Bagdad was taken by the Turks in 1638 and that city -has ever since been the capital of a Turkish Province. It -is unnecessary to enter here into the succession of Pashas -and rulers and the attempts to subjugate the Bedouin Arabs. -In 1830 the great plague visited all Mesopotamia and when -epidemic was at its height the river burst its banks and in one -night 15,000 people perished. In 1884 the vilayet of Busrah -was separated from that of Bagdad and has since remained -under its own governor. The two provinces have all the -machinery of Ottoman rule in working order. Except for an -occasional outbreak among the Montefik Arabs, Turkey has -no trouble to hold Mesopotamia in her grasp. Nor is she at -all willing that this rich province should even dream of passing -under other rulers. In the year 1891 the Turkish Official -Bulletin gave the total revenue from taxation in the Bagdad -vilayet alone at 246,304 Turkish pounds.</p> - -<p>It may be interesting to note in passing the various sources -of taxation-money. They are in brief: tax on Arab tents, exemption -from military service, tax on sheep, buffaloes, camels, -tax on mines (salt), tax on special privileges, tax on forests and -timber, tax on fishing, custom dues, tax on shipping, on irrigation, -on farming improvements; “receipts from tribunals” -(£3,000 tax on justice!) and beside all this “taxes diverses” -and “revenues diverses” to make up the budget. All this is -legal, ordinary taxation. But the actual conditions of Turkish -misrule made it impossible to exercise the inalienable rights of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_216"></a>216</span> -“life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” without continual -backsheesh to every official.</p> - -<p>The population of Mesopotamia, Moslem and Jew and -Christian are thoroughly weary of Turkish misrule, but no one -dares to lift up a voice in protest. They have become accustomed -to it; and there is nothing else but to bear it patiently. -As for the nomads they have either, like the Montefik, -settled down along the rivers to cultivate the soil and eke out -a miserable existence, or, like the Aneyza and Shammar -tribes, they are as thoroughly independent of the Sultan as -when they first appeared in his borders.</p> - -<p>Turkish Arabia on the north is represented on most maps by -a regular curved line starting from the Persian Gulf and ending -at the Gulf of Akaba; but the line is purely imaginary. -Turkish rule does not extend far south of the banks of the -Euphrates, and the whole desert region from Kerbela to the -Dead Sea and the Hauran is practically independent.<a id="FNanchor_72" href="#Footnote_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> Outside -of Bagdad and Busrah even the river towns are frequently -threatened by the nomads, and Turkish soldiers have often to -guard the river steamers against pirates. Military rule is in -vogue two hundred years after the occupation of the country, -and the nomads are nomads still. The commander-in-chief of -the Sixth Ottoman army corps resides at Bagdad, and a good -number of soldiers occupy the barracks in the city of the old -caliphs.</p> - -<p>In Turkey all Moslems over twenty years of age are liable to -military conscription, and this liability continues for over -twenty years. Non-Moslems pay an annual exemption tax of -about six shillings per head. The army consists of <i>Nizam</i> or -regulars, <i>Redif</i> or reserves, and <i>Mustahfuz</i> or national guard. -The infantry are supposed to be all armed with Martini-Peabody -rifles, but in Mesopotamia older patterns are still in use. -The life of a Turkish soldier is not enviable; and none of them -would be volunteers for government service. The Turkish<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_217"></a>217</span> -navy is represented in the Persian Gulf and on the rivers by -one or two third-rate cruisers and a small river gunboat.</p> - -<p>The result of the calling of Turkey into the Wahabi quarrel -between the two sons of Feysul, was the occupation of Katif -and Hassa by the Ottoman government. Since that time (1872) -Hassa has been a part of the Busrah vilayet, and the Pasha, -who resides at Hofhoof, has the title Mutaserif Pasha of Nejd. -Continual troubles with the Arabs mark the history of the occupation -of Hassa; the caravan routes are not as safe as in the -dominions of the Amir of Nejd; the whole country shows decay -and lack of government; taxation of the pearl fishers has -driven many of them to Bahrein; the peninsula of Katar is -occupied by a garrison, but that does not prevent continual -blood feuds and battles between the Arab tribes. The Ottoman -government has established an overland post-service between -Hofhoof and Busrah as between Bagdad and Damascus, -but both routes are unsafe and slow. Most of the Hofhoof -merchants use the British Post Office at Bahrein; and so do the -government officials.</p> - -<p><a id="The_Four_Flags_of_Arabia"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-217" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-217.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">The Four Flags of Arabia.</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_218"></a>218</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XXII">XXII<br /> - -<small>BRITISH INFLUENCE IN ARABIA</small></h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“The English, said the old Arab Sheikh in reply, are like ants; if one -finds a bit of meat, a hundred follow.”—<i>Ainsworth.</i></p></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Oman may, indeed, be justifiably regarded as a British dependency. -We subsidize its ruler; we dictate its policy; we should tolerate no alien -interference. I have little doubt myself that the time will come ... -when the Union Jack will be seen flying from the castles of Muscat.”</p> - -<p>“I should regard the concession of a port upon the Persian Gulf to Russia -by any power as a deliberate insult to Great Britain, as a wanton rupture -of the <i>status quo</i> and as an international provocation to war; and I -should impeach the British minister, who was guilty of acquiescing in -such surrender, as a traitor to his country.”</p> - -<p> -—<i>Lord Curzon</i>, Viceroy of India.<br /> -</p></div> - - -<p>In sketching the relations of England to the peninsula, we -will consider: Her Arabian possessions and protectorates; -her supremacy in Arabian waters, her commerce with Arabia; -her treaties with Arab tribes; and her consulates and agencies -in Arabia.</p> - -<p>Of all British possessions in Arabia, Aden is by far the most -important, on account of its strategic position as the key not -only of all Yemen, but of the Red Sea and all Western Arabia. -Aden was visited as early as 1609 by Captain Sharkey of the -East India Company’s ship “Ascension.” He was at first well -received, but afterward imprisoned until the inhabitants had -secured a large ransom. Two of the Englishmen on board refusing -to pay were sent to the Pasha at Sana. In 1610 an -English ship again visited Aden and the crew were treacherously -treated. In 1820, Captain Haines of the Indian navy<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_219"></a>219</span> -visited Aden, and in 1829 the Court of Directors entertained -the idea of making Aden a coaling-station, but the idea was -abandoned. In consequence of an outrage committed on the -passengers and crew of a buggalow wrecked near Aden, an expedition -was despatched against the place by the Bombay government -in 1838. It was arranged that the peninsula of Aden -should be ceded to the British. But the negotiations were anything -but friendly, and in January, 1839, a force of 300 Europeans -and 400 native troops in the “Volage” and “Cruizer” -bombarded and took the place by storm.</p> - -<p>This was the first new accession of territory in the reign of -Queen Victoria. Immense sums of money have been spent in -fortifying this natural Gibraltar and in improving its harbor. -Four times the Arabs have attempted to take Aden by land, -each time with fearful loss and without success. By sea Aden -is impregnable; only the initiated know the strength of its mole-batteries, -mines, forts and other defences; and every year new -defences are constructed and old ones strengthened. Aden has -become a great centre for trade, and is one of the chief coaling -depots in the world. It bars the further advance of Turkey -into South Arabia, guarantees independence and good government -to all the neighboring petty states, and is an example of -good government to all Arabia and the African coast. The settlement -is politically subject to the Bombay Presidency and is -administered by a Resident with two assistants. Since the -opening of the Suez canal, trade has steadily increased and -Turkish custom extortions at Hodeidah direct the caravan trade -more and more to Aden from every part of Yemen.</p> - -<p>The island of Socotra and the Kuria Muria islands are also -attached to Aden, together with the Somali Coast in Africa. -Socotra has an area of 1,382 square miles and about 10,000 -inhabitants. It came under British protection in 1886 by treaty -with its Sultan. The Kuria Muria group was ceded to the -British by the Sultan of Muscat, for the purpose of landing the -Red Sea cable; the islands are five in number and have rich<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_220"></a>220</span> -guano deposits. The island of Kamaran is also classed as belonging -to the British Empire.<a id="FNanchor_73" href="#Footnote_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> It is a small island in the Red -Sea, some miles north of Hodeidah; it is only fifteen miles -long and five wide, and has seven small fishing-villages. But -it has a good sheltered anchorage and is the quarantine Station -for all Moslem pilgrims from the south to Mecca.</p> - -<p>The Bahrein Islands are also included in the British Empire, -although Turkey still claims them as her own and the native -ruler imagines that he is independent. “The present chief -Sheikh Isa owes the possession of his throne entirely to British -protection which was instituted in 1867. Sheikh Isa was again -formerly placed under British protection in 1870 when his rivals -were deported to India.” The Political Resident at Bushire -superintends the government of the islands to as great an extent -as is deemed diplomatic.</p> - -<p>Perim at the southern end of the Red Sea was taken possession -of in 1799 by the East India Company and a force was -sent from Bombay to garrison the island. But it was found -untenable at that time as a military position and the troops -were withdrawn. Perim was reoccupied in the beginning of -1857. The lighthouse was completed in 1861, and quarters -were built for a permanent garrison.<a id="FNanchor_74" href="#Footnote_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a></p> - -<p>We may also consider the possessions of Egypt in Arabia as -practically under English protection. Since the British occupation, -the peninsula of Sinai and the Red Sea litoral on the -Arabian side, nearly as far as Yembo is under the Governor-General -of the Suez canal.</p> - -<p>England not only possesses the key positions on the coasts of -Arabia, but has for many years held the naval supremacy in all -Arabian waters. As the Dutch succeeded the Portuguese and -established trading-stations in the Persian Gulf and in the Red -Sea, so England followed the Dutch. The East India Com<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_221"></a>221</span>pany -was at Aden and Mocha in the beginning of the seventeenth -century, and in 1754 the English East India Company -established itself at Bunder Rig, north of Bushire, and later at -Bushire itself, supplanting the Dutch. The island of Karak -in the north of the Gulf was twice occupied by the British, in -1838 and in 1853. After the bombardment of Bushire in 1857 -and of Mohammerah in the same year, hostilities ceased and -Karak was again evacuated. The island of Kishm, in the -southern part of the Gulf, was during the greater part of the -present century, a British military or naval station. The Indian -naval squadron had its headquarters first at El Kishm, then at -Deristan and finally for many years at Bassadore. In 1879 -because of the insalubrity of the climate the last company of -Sepoys was withdrawn to India. But the island is still in a -sense considered British. As early as 1622 the Persians and -the British expelled the Portuguese from Ormuz and shortly -after, in common with the Dutch and French set up trading -factories at Gombrun, (now Bunder Abbas). In 1738 the English -Company established an agency at Busrah and much of -their Gulf business was shifted to that port. Since 1869 there -has been a telegraph station at Jask with a staff of six English -officials; here the land and marine wires of the Indo-European -telegraph meet and join India to the Gulf.</p> - -<p>The Sultanate of Oman, since 1822, has been in the closest -relations possible with British naval power. At several critical -periods in Oman history, it was Great Britain that helped to -settle the affairs of state. In 1861 a British commissioner arbitrated -between two claimants for the rule of Muscat and -Zanzibar, then one kingdom, and divided the Sultanate. Since -1873 the Sultan of Muscat has received an annual subsidy -from the British government. Near Cape Musendum, on the -Arabian side of the Gulf, the British once occupied a place -called Malcolm’s Inlet when they were laying the telegraph -cable from Kerachi to the Gulf in 1864. Five years later it -was transferred to Jask. From 1805 to 1821 there were British<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_222"></a>222</span> -naval encounters with the pirates of the Gulf, and since that date -all piracy in these waters has ceased.<a id="FNanchor_75" href="#Footnote_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> British naval supremacy -established peace at Bahrein and has protected its native government -since 1847. When in 1867 the native ruler, “a crafty old -fox” as Curzon calls him, broke the treaty, the bombardment -of Menamah brought further proof of British naval supremacy. -Kuweit was for a time (1821-22) the headquarters of the -British Resident at Busrah; and, semi-independent of Turkey, -is now becoming wholly dependent on England—another indication -of British naval supremacy. Even at Fao, Busrah -and Bagdad British gunboats often keep the peace or at least -emphasize authority. In a word Great Britain holds the scales -of justice for all the Persian Gulf litoral. She guarantees -a <i>pax Brittanica</i> for commerce, she taught the Arab tribes -that rapine and robbery are not a safe religion; where they -once swept the sea with slave-dhows and pirate-craft they have -now settled down to drying fish and diving for pearls. For the -accomplishment of this subject England has spent much both -in treasure and in lifeblood. Witness the graves of British -soldiers and marines in so many Gulf ports. The testimony of -an outsider, is given in a recent article in the <i>Cologne Gazette</i>, -which thus describes the political and naval supremacy of -England in Eastern Arabia and the Persian Gulf:</p> - -<p>“A disguised protectorate over Oman and control over the -actions of the Sultan of Muscat; actual protectorate over Bahrein; -coaling station on the island of Kishm, in the Straits of -Ormuz; presence of a political Resident at Bushire who, with -the help of an association called the Trucial League, decides -all disputes between Turkish, Arab, and Persian chiefs in the -Persian Gulf.... This league gives the English a constant -pretext for intervention; the object of keeping peace and -policing the gulf is only a pretence.... All events on -the Persian Gulf, however disconnected apparently, are really<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_223"></a>223</span> -dependent on each other through the Trucial League. It is a -confused tangle of hatreds and jealousies whose threads are -united in the hands of the Resident at Bushire.... Russia -shows an indifference which is quite incomprehensible considering -the interest she has and must have in these affairs. -One could recount numerous instances where English agents -have injured Russian interests without meeting with any opposition. -The Russian Consul in Bagdad is thrust into the -background by the activity of his British colleague. Southern -Persia, the gulf, Eastern Arabia, and the Land of Oman have -fallen completely within the English sphere of influence. This -state of affairs has not been officially ratified, but exists as a -fact. That will last till some movement comes about to restore -the proper balance. Meanwhile, the English are the masters. -They are so accustomed to manage the whole Persian Gulf that -if the least thing occurs that they have not foreseen or themselves -arranged they completely lose all self-control.”</p> - -<p>But the supremacy of England in the Gulf and on the other -coasts of Arabia is hers not only because of gunboats and gunpowder. -It is most of all by the arts of peace that she has -established and glorified her power on the Arabian litoral. It -must never be forgotten, for example, that the magnificent -surveys of the entire 4,000 miles of Arabian coast were the -work of British and Indian naval officers; by means of this -survey, completed at great cost, commerce has been aided and -navigation of the dangerous waters east and west of Arabia has -been made safe. England too is the only power that has -established lighthouses; <i>e. g.</i>, at Aden, Perim, in the Red Sea -and lately on Socotra. England laid the cables that circle -Arabia; from India to Bushire and Fao connecting with the -Turkish overland telegraph system; from Aden to Bombay -and from Aden to Suez through the Red Sea. These cables -were not the work of a day but were laid with great expense -and opposed by the very governments they were intended to -benefit.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_224"></a>224</span></p> - -<p>Again, Arabia has two postal systems and two only. In the -Turkish province of Yemen there is a weekly post between the -capital and the chief towns to the coast; in Hejaz there is a -post to Mecca; and in Mesopotamia and Hasa there is another -Turkish postal system notorious for its slowness and insecurity. -For the rest all of Eastern and Southern Arabia are dependent -on the Indian Postal system; the whole interior is ignorant -of a post office or of a postman. The government of India -has post offices at Muscat, Bahrein, Fao, Busrah and Bagdad -with regular mail service, and the best administration in the -world. The English post carries the bulk of the mail between -Busrah and Bagdad while Bahrein is really the post office for -all Eastern Arabia; pearl-merchants at Katar and in Hasa -mail their letters at Bahrein and even the Turkish government -needs the English post to communicate with Busrah from -Hasa.</p> - -<p>England has also earned her supremacy in Arabian waters -by honest attempts to put a stop to the slave-trade, in accord -with the Anti-slave Trade treaties between the powers. She is -the only power whose navy has acted in seizing slave-dhows, -liberating slaves and patrolling the coast. The work has not -always been done thoroughly or vigorously, but that it has -been done at all, places England first among the powers that -sail in Arabian waters.</p> - -<p>Where the Union Jack proclaims naval supremacy, there the -red mercantile flag of England follows the blue and carries -commerce; the two go together, and although of different -color are the same flag to Englishmen. The world-wide commercial -activity of Great Britain has touched every part of the -Arabian coast and British wares from Manchester and Birmingham -have penetrated to every secluded village of Nejd, and are -found in every valley of Yemen.</p> - -<p>The mercantile navigation of the Gulf as it now exists is -the creation of the last thirty years, and is largely to be attributed -to the statesmanship of Sir Bartle Frere. It was he who,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_225"></a>225</span> -when at Calcutta as a member of Lord Canning’s Supreme -Council, befriended the young Scotchman, William Mackinnon, -who was planning a new shipping business beyond his -slender means; and a subsidy was granted to Mackinnon’s -new line of Steamers. Thus it was that the British India Steam -Navigation Company was launched which first opened trade -not only with Zanzibar but in the Persian Gulf. In 1862 not -a single mercantile steamer ploughed the Persian Gulf. A -six-weekly service was then started, followed by a monthly, a -fortnightly and finally by a weekly steamer. From Busrah -there are two lines of English steamers direct for London. The -British India was the pioneer line and still holds the first position, -although there are other lines that do coasting trade with -India.</p> - -<p>Thus English commerce controls not only the markets of both -sides of the Gulf, but of all Northwestern Arabia and as far beyond -Bagdad as piece-goods and iron-ware can be carried on -camels. There is not a spool of thread in Nejd or a jack-knife -in Jebel-Shammar that did not come up the Persian Gulf in an -English ship. All of Hassa eats rice from Rangoon and thousands -of bags are carried in British ships to Bahrein to be transported -inland by caravan. Not only is the steamshipping mostly -in English hands, but many of the native buggalows fly the -British flag and the chief merchants are Englishmen or British -subjects from India. The Rupee is the standard of value along -the whole Arabian coast from Aden to Busrah. In the interior -the Maria Theresa dollar has long held sway, but even that is -becoming scarce among the Bedouins and they have little preference -between the “<i>abu bint</i>” (the Rupee with a girl’s head) -and the “<i>abu tair</i>” (“the father of a bird”—the eagle on -the Austrian dollar). For a time a French line of steamers ran -in the Gulf but the project was abandoned, though there is now -a rumour of its revival.<a id="FNanchor_76" href="#Footnote_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_226"></a>226</span></p> - -<p>Aden is the commercial centre for all Southern Arabia and -the enormous increase of its trade since 1839 is proof of what -English commerce has done for Yemen. Mocha is dead, and -Hodeidah is long since bedridden, but Aden is alive and only -requires a railroad to Sana to become the commercial capital of -all Western and Southern Arabia. That railroad will be built -as soon as the Turk leaves Yemen’s capital; God hasten the -day. After the occupation of Aden in 1839 until the year -1850 customs dues were levied as in India but at that time -it was declared a free port. During the first seven years the -total value of imports and exports averaged per year about -1,900,000 Rupees, in the next seven years the annual -average rose to 6,000,000 Rupees, and it has been on the -increase ever since, until it now is over 30,000,000 Rupees; -nor did this annual average include the trade by land which is -also large.</p> - -<p>The Suez canal is another indication of the prestige which -English commerce has in the Red Sea and along the routes of -traffic that circle Arabia. In 1893 the gross tonnage that passed -through the canal was 10,753,798; of this 7,977,728 tons passed -under the English flag which means that nearly four-fifths of -the trade is English. In the same year the number of vessels -passing through the canal was 3,341 of which 2,405 belonged -to Great Britain.</p> - -<p>The proposed Anglo-Egyptian railway across the north of -Arabia will join the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean. To -shorten the time of communication between England and her -Eastern Empire is evidently a matter of the highest importance, -not only for commerce and post, but in the event of war, mutiny -or other great emergency. The first surveys for this overland -railway were made as early as 1850, by the Euphrates Expedition -under General Chesney. The scheme was warmly advocated<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_227"></a>227</span> -in England by Sir W. P. Andrew, the Duke of Sutherland and -others, but although it still awaits execution the plan comes up -again every few years with new advocates and new improvements. -Once it was to be the Euphrates Valley railway coming -down to Bagdad and Busrah or to Kuweit (Grane) by way of -Mosul. Now the plan proposed is to open a railway from Port -Said due eastward across the Peninsula along the thirtieth parallel -of latitude to Busrah. A branch would deviate a little to the -south to the port of Kuweit which was also the proposed terminus -of the Euphrates Valley line on which a select committee -of the House of Commons sat twenty-five years ago. From -Busrah the main line would cross the Shatt-el-Arab and the -Karun by swing-bridges and follow the coast-line of the Persian -Gulf and Makran to Kerachi. Such a line would reduce the -time occupied in transit between London and Kerachi to -eight days.<a id="FNanchor_77" href="#Footnote_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> Whether this route or any other is followed is -a matter of minor importance. The fact that since 1874 -England has been to the front in the matter of the overland -railroad puts it beyond a doubt, that when the railway is -built its terminus at least will be under English control and -most probably the whole road will represent English capital -and enterprise.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile there is intelligence that Turkey has made a concession -to German capitalists for the extension of the Anatolian -railways to Bagdad. The line which runs from the Asiatic -shores of the Bosphorus to Angora is in the hands of a German -syndicate and the terms of the concession contain compulsory -clauses under which, in certain eventualities, the Turkish -government can compel the syndicate to extend the road to -Sivas and ultimately to Bagdad.<a id="FNanchor_78" href="#Footnote_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> But politically Great Britain<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_228"></a>228</span> -has little to fear from the spread of German influence in the -Levant and Mesopotamia. The editor of an influential English -paper says, “Every mark expended by the Germans upon -public works in the Asiatic dominions of the Sultan helps to -build up the bulwark against the menace of Russia. And -the creation of a German railway in Asia Minor will, in a -limited degree tend to identify the interests of Germany and -Great Britain.” Nevertheless England would never grant a -terminus or harbor to a German railroad syndicate on the -Persian Gulf.</p> - -<p>Great Britain has treaties or agreements of some sort with -every tribe and settlement of Arabs from Aden to Muscat and -thence to Bahrein. England has two kings for Arabia; the -first lives at Bushire and is called the British Resident and -Consul General, the other with a similar title lives at Aden. -Of the Bushire Resident Lord Curzon wrote, “One or more -gunboats are at the disposal of the British Resident at Bushire -who has also a despatch boat for his own immediate use in the -event of any emergency. Not a week passes but, by Persians -and Arabs alike, disputes are referred to his arbitration, and -he may with greater truth than the phrase sometimes conveys -be entitled the Uncrowned King of the Persian Gulf.” To -the energy and political capacity of Colonel Ross and his -capable predecessor, Sir Lewis Pelly, this royal throne owes its -foundation. All the treaties made by England with the Arab -tribes on the Eastern coast of Arabia are here interpreted and -enforced.</p> - -<p>The treaties made with the chiefs of Bahrein and with the -tribes on the so-called Pirate coast embraces clauses to enforce -the maritime peace of the Gulf, to exclude foreign powers -from the possession of territory, to regulate or abolish the slave-traffic -and to put down piracy. Since 1820 various treaties -of truce have been concluded with the warlike Arabs on the -coast south of Katar and have been frequently renewed or -strengthened. In 1853 a Treaty of Perpetual Peace was made<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_229"></a>229</span> -with other tribes<a id="FNanchor_79" href="#Footnote_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> which provided that there should be a complete -cessation of hostilities at sea and that all disputes should -be referred to the British Resident. The contracting parties -were called Trucial Chiefs and the treaty is known as the -Trucial Arrangement or League. Beside these treaties the -English have an exclusive treaty with the Sheikh of Bahrein to -such a degree, that the islands are practically a British protectorate.</p> - -<p>Although there are no formal treaties with the tribes along -the Hassa coast and Katar, these being under Turkish rule, that -region is not disregarded by Great Britain, nay Nejd itself finds -a place in the administration reports of the Persian Gulf, Political -agency whenever the horizon in that part of the peninsula -shows a storm cloud though it be no bigger than a man’s -hand. The claims of the Porte to sovereignty over El Katar -are not admitted by the British government<a id="FNanchor_80" href="#Footnote_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> and are the cause -not only of diplomatic controversy but of actual interference on -the part of the British when necessary.</p> - -<p>The great benefits that have followed the treaties of peace -with the Arab tribes are manifest most of all by a comparison -of that part of the Arabian coast under English supervision -and the long stretch from Katif to Busrah which is Turkish. -The former enjoys peace and the tribes have settled down to -commerce and fishing, there is safety for the traveller and the -stranger everywhere; the latter is in continual state of warfare, -there is neither commerce nor agriculture and the entire coast -is utterly unsafe because of the <i>laissez faire</i> policy of Turkey.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_230"></a>230</span></p> - -<p>Turning to Oman we find, in the words of Lord Curzon, -that, treaty succeeding treaty, “it may be justifiably regarded -as a British dependency.” The recent history of Muscat has -only hastened the day when “the Union Jack will be seen flying -from the castles of Muscat.” The Bedouin revolt and -their occupation of the town resulted in saddling the unhappy -Sultan with a large bill for damages sustained by British subjects. -The episode of the French coaling-station cost the -Sultan his annual subsidy. Thus from the side of finance he -is doubly dependent on English clemency.</p> - -<p>The second British king of Arabia resides at Aden. There -he is at once Political Resident and commander of the troops. -His authority extends not only to the settlement of Aden -proper but includes supervision of a territory 200 miles long by -forty broad with a population of 130,000. Many of the -neighboring tribes are subsidized and all of them are bound by -treaty to Great Britain. What the Bushire Resident is for the -Gulf that the Aden Resident is for the Southern litoral of the -Peninsula. Moreover the Island of Socotra is also under the -Resident at Aden and the Island of Perim. The ruler of -Makalla in Hadramaut is under special treaty with England; -although the newspaper report, that Great Britain had declared -a protectorate over all Southern Arabia, has no foundation.<a id="FNanchor_81" href="#Footnote_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_231"></a>231</span></p> - -<p>In the tribes which are bound by treaty with Britain a patriarchal -system of supervision seems to prevail. Good children -are rewarded and bad ones are punished. Nothing escapes the -eye of the political parent; one has only to read the yearly -Administration reports to find many striking and sometimes -amusing examples. We quote from the Residency Report of -Muscat for 1893-94 verbatim: “One case of breach of the -maritime peace of the Gulf occurred in which the Sultan was -advised to inflict a fine of Rs. 50 (about sixteen dollars) on Mehdibin-Ali, -the Sheikh of the Kamazarah tribe of Khassab, for -proceeding with a party of armed men by sea to Shaam with -the object of prosecuting a certain claim his wife had against -the estate of her deceased father. After some months’ delay -the attendance of the Sheikh was enforced at Muscat and the -fine was recovered.” The same report tells how the government -of India acknowledged the kindness shown to the shipwrecked -crew of the S. S. Khiva in April, 1893, by the Sultan -of Muscat, “by presentation to His Highness of a handsome -telescope and watch.” Every year all the tribal chiefs who -have proved “good boys” receive some yards of bright flannel, -a new rifle or a pair of army pistols. But the patriarchal -system works well; and there are few Arabs who would like -English power in the Gulf or near Aden to grow less; all express -admiration for English <i>rule</i>, if not for English politics. -In Arabia too the old promise of Noah is finding its fulfillment -to-day. “God shall enlarge Japhet and he shall dwell in the -tents of Shem.” Shem never took a better guest into his tent -than when he signed a treaty of perpetual peace with England -on his coasts.</p> - -<p>England has consulates and consular agents at more places -in Arabia than has any other power and her consuls exercise -more authority and have greater prestige. In nearly every -case they were first appointed and have therefore had longer -time to extend their influence. At Jiddah, Hodeidah, and on -the island of Kamaran there are British consulates or vice-con<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_232"></a>232</span>sulates; -and there are reports of a consulate at Sana. At -Makalla there is a British agent. Muscat, Bagdad, Busrah, -Bushire and Mohammerah all have consulates, with different -degrees of authority and position, all exercising power of -some sort in Arabia. Bahrein, Lingah, Sharka, Bunder -Abbas, and other points in the Gulf have British agents. -At Jiddah, Hodeidah and Aden there are several consulates -beside the English. Muscat has for some years had an -American consul and in 1894 the French established a consulate -there. Russia has no representative in the Gulf save at -Bagdad; nor has Germany. None of the European powers, -save England, have agents at any of the Arabian ports in the -Gulf nor do the ships of their navies often visit this part of the -world. In fact so little do the Arabs know of other consuls -than English, that their words for agent, <i>wakil</i>, and for consul, -<i>baljoz</i>, always signify to them British officers or appointees.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_233"></a>233</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XXIII">XXIII<br /> - -<small>PRESENT POLITICS IN ARABIA</small></h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“The signs of the times show plainly enough what is going to happen. -All the savage lands in the world are going to be brought under subjection -to the Christian Governments of Europe. The sooner the seizure is -consummated, the better for the savages.”—<i>Mark Twain.</i></p></div> - - -<p>While Turkey continues in power the western coast of -Arabia will see no change and everything will be quiet -in Hejaz. If however the trouble between the Sherifs of -Mecca and the Sublime Porte should reach a crisis or Moslem -fanaticism at Jiddah should endanger the lives of Christians, we -may expect England, and perhaps France and Holland to interfere -as did England in 1858.<a id="FNanchor_82" href="#Footnote_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> Regarding Yemen there is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_234"></a>234</span> -more probability of a great political change in the near future. -Aden is a cinder-heap, but Sana has a fine, cold climate and is -the capital of a rich mountain region capable of extraordinary -development. There are those who desire to see England assume -a protectorate over all Yemen, and if ever the Arabs -should turn out the Turks, England would be almost compelled -to step in and preserve peace for her allied tribes near Aden. -Long since the army at Aden has felt the need of a hill-station -and only the Crescent keeps the English troops penned up in -an extinct crater where life at best is misery.</p> - -<p>The southern part of Arabia is of such a character geographically -and the coast so barren that it offers no attractions to the -most ambitious land-grabber. Oman, like Yemen, is fertile -and has in addition certain mining possibilities. Until recent -years England was the only foreign power that claimed an interest -in the heritage of the Sultan of Muscat. Now France is -on the scene and is apparently unwilling that British power -should increase in Oman or the Gulf. The alleged lease of a -coaling-station to France by the Sultan of Muscat in February, -1899, was only the beginning of French opposition made manifest. -Her establishment of a consulate at Muscat, her relations -to the slave-trade, her attempt to subsidize a line of French -steamers in the Gulf, her secret agents recently travelling in the -Gulf—all these were only ripples that show which way the current -flows. So far England has had free play in Oman; now -another power has appeared. The coaling-station incident -was soon settled to the satisfaction of all Englishmen, and in a -thoroughly English way. Under threat of bombardment the -Sultan repudiated his agreement with the French and by way<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_235"></a>235</span> -of punishment for his misconduct his annual stipend was -stopped. Whether France will continue to seek to increase her -influence in the Gulf remains to be seen. It is certain that -English policy is strenuously opposed to allowing one square -foot of Oman territory to pass into the hands of France or any -other foreign power.</p> - -<p>In April, 1899, it was announced that Russia had entered the -Persian Gulf as a political power and acquired the harbor of -Bunder Abbas in Persia as a terminus for her proposed railway. -Since that time this has been officially denied both at -Teheran and St. Petersburg and also stoutly reasserted with -new proofs by the English press and the press of India. It is -undoubtedly news of a sensational character if it be true. -The presence of Russia in the Persian Gulf would probably -change the future history of all its litoral and help to decide -the future partition of Arabia and Mesopotamia. All things -seem to be moving toward a crisis in this region of the east. -And if the battle for empire and for possession of the keys to -the gateway of India should be fought in the Persian Gulf -the possible consequences are too vast to be surmised. What -England’s policy would be in case there is truth in the alleged -Russian aggression, is summarized in a recent article in the -<i>Times</i> of India:</p> - -<p>“It remains to consider what steps should be taken by Great -Britain in view of the new development in Gulf politics. It -may be taken for granted that Russia will not attempt to take -possession of Bunder Abbas for a considerable time to come. -She will make every effort to deny the existence of the advantage -she has gained until a convenient opportunity arises -for putting her plan into execution. In the meantime, Great -Britain can be well content to remain quiet, and to imitate -her adversary by playing a waiting game. It will possibly be -suggested that by again occupying Kishm, and by seizing -Ormuz, the value of Bunder Abbas to Russia could at once be -neutralized to a large extent. That is doubtless true; but it is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_236"></a>236</span> -material to point out that little is to be gained by precipitate -action, that these points of vantage can be occupied with -facility at any time, and that the true policy of Great Britain is -to endeavor to preserve the <i>status quo</i> for as long a period as -possible.</p> - -<p>“Meanwhile, there are many methods by which British -power and influence in the Gulf can be safeguarded. We understand -that the Admiralty has already decided to strengthen -the naval force maintained in Persian waters, and that the Admiral -commanding the East Indies squadron will in future give -the Gulf a larger share of his personal supervision. But this is -not enough. The staff of political officers in the Gulf needs -to be enlarged.... Then, too, more telegraph cables -are needed. Muscat is now shut off from communication -with the rest of the world, although the port was once linked -up with Aden by cable. A line should be laid from Muscat to -Jask forthwith, and another branch should connect Jask with -Bunder Abbas and Lingah. More political agents should be -stationed in the hinterland between Bunder Abbas and Seistan, -with roving commissions, if necessary. One other matter -needs urgent attention. Russia now possesses the sole right to -construct railways in Persia, under an agreement which, after -being in existence ten years, expires this year. Is anything -being done to prevent the renewal of this objectionable concession, -which is deeply opposed to British interests in the Shah’s -dominions? It is in the highest degree important that Great -Britain should secure a share in the concessions for roads and -railways which will certainly be granted by the Persian government -in the near future. Unfortunately, the gaze of the -British public is so steadily concentrated upon China that it is -unable to perceive dangers which threaten the empire in a far -more vital place. There must soon be a rude awakening. It -is not in China, but in Persia and the Persian Gulf, that the -centre of political strife and international rivalry in Asia will -soon be fixed.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_237"></a>237</span></p> - -<p>With the event of Russia in the Gulf and her Persian policy, -with France envious of England’s growing prestige in this -Orient, with Germany at work building railways and Turkey’s -days numbered, what is to be the future of the fertile provinces -of Busrah and Bagdad? Will England continue to hold the -upper hand in every part of Arabia and will some future Lord -Cromer develop the Euphrates-Tigris valley into a second -Egypt? The battle of diplomacy is on. European cabinets, -backed by immense armies and navies are playing a game involving -tremendous issues—issues not only tremendous to -themselves and to the populations of Arabia and Persia, but -involving the interest of another King and the greatest Kingdom. -The event toward which history and recent politics in -Arabia have so far been moving is “the one far off Divine -event” of the Son of God. Not only to the missionary but -to every Christian the study of the politics of Arabia makes -evident the great Providential hand of God in the history of -the Peninsula during the past century. Jesus Christ holds the -key to the situation. All the kings of the earth are in His -hand and to whomsoever He gives power or privilege, the end -will be the glory of His own name and the coming of His own -kingdom; also in Arabia.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_238"></a>238</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XXIV">XXIV<br /> - -<small>THE ARABIC LANGUAGE</small></h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Arabic grammars should be strongly bound, because learners are so -often found to dash them frantically on the ground.”—<i>Keith Falconer.</i></p> - -<p>“It is a language more extended over the face of the earth and which -has had more to do with the destiny of mankind than any other, except -English.”—<i>Rev. Geo. E. Post, M. D.</i>, Beirut.</p> - -<p>“Wisdom hath alighted upon three things—the brain of the Franks, -the hands of the Chinese and the tongue of the Arabs.”—<i>Mohammed ed-Damiri.</i></p></div> - - -<p>Two religions contend for the mastery of the world; -Christianity and Islam. Two races strive for the possession -of the dark continent, the Anglo-Saxon and the Arab. -Two languages have for ages past contested for world-wide extension -on the basis of colonization and propagandism—the -English and the Arabic. To-day about seventy millions of -people speak some form of the Arabic language, as their -vernacular; and nearly as many more know something of its -literature in the Koran because they are Mohammedans. In -the Philippine islands the first chapter of the Koran is repeated -before dawn paints the sky red. The refrain is taken up in -Moslem prayers at Pekin and is repeated across the whole of -China. It is heard in the valleys of the Himalayas and on -“the roof of the world.” A few hours later the Persians pronounce -these Arabic words and then across the Peninsula the -muezzins call the “faithful” to prayer. At the waters of the -Nile, the cry “<i>Allahu akbar</i>” is again sounded forth ever -carrying the Arab speech westward across the Sudan, the -Sahara and the Barbary States until it is last heard in the -mosques of Morocco.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_239"></a>239</span></p> - -<p>The Arabic Koran is a text-book in the day-schools of -Turkey, Afghanistan, Java, Sumatra, New Guinea, and -Southern Russia. Arabic is the spoken language not only of -Arabia proper but forces the linguistic boundary of that peninsula -300 miles north of Bagdad to Diarbekr and Mardin, and -is used all over Syria and Palestine and the whole of northern -Africa. Even at Cape Colony there are daily readers of the -language of Mohammed. As early as 1315 Arabic began to -be taught at the universities of Europe through the missionary -influence of Raymund Lull and to-day the language is -more accurately known and its literature more critically investigated -at Leiden than at Cairo and at Cambridge than in -Damascus.</p> - -<p>A missionary in Syria who is a master of the Arab tongue -thus characterizes it, “A pure and original speech of the greatest -flexibility, with an enormous vocabulary, with great grammatical -possibility, fitted to convey theological and philosophical -and scientific thought in a manner not to be excelled by -any language except the English, and the little group of languages -which have been cultivated so happily by Christianity -in Central Europe.” Ernest Renan, the French Semitic -scholar, after expressing his surprise that such a language as -Arabic should spring from the desert-regions of Arabia and -reach perfection in nomadic camps, says that the Arabic surpasses -all its sister Semitic languages in its rich vocabulary, -delicacy of expression, and the logic of its grammatical construction.<a id="FNanchor_83" href="#Footnote_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_240"></a>240</span></p> - -<p>The Semitic family of languages is large and ancient, although -not as extensive geographically nor so diverse as those -of Indo-European family. Some maintain<a id="FNanchor_84" href="#Footnote_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> that the Semites -were ancient immigrants from the region northeast of Arabia. -They hold that before the formation of the different Semitic -dialects the Semites everywhere used a name for the camel -(<i>jemel</i>) which still appears in all of the dialects. They have -however no names in common for the date-palm, the fruit of the -the palm nor for the ostrich, therefore, in their first home, the -Semites knew the camel but did not know the palm. Now the -region where there is neither date-palm nor ostrich and yet -where the camel has lived from the remotest antiquity is the -central table-land of Asia near the Oxus. Von Kremer holds -that from this region the Semites migrated to Babylon even -before the Aryan emigration; the Mesopotamian valley is the -oldest seat of Semitic culture.</p> - -<p>Others<a id="FNanchor_85" href="#Footnote_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> hold that the original home of the Semites was in -the south of Arabia whence they gradually overspread the -peninsula, so that, as Sprenger expresses it, “All Semite are -successive layers of Arabs.” The arguments for this theory -are briefly given by Sayce:<a id="FNanchor_86" href="#Footnote_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> “The Semitic traditions all point -to Arabia as the original home of the race. It is the only part -of the world which has remained exclusively Semites. The -racial characteristics—intensity of faith, ferocity, exclusiveness, -imagination—can best be explained by a desert origin.” De -Goeje lays stress on the fine climate of Central Arabia and the -splendid physical development of the Arab as additional proof -together with the indisputable fact that “of all Semitic languages -the Arabic approaches nearest to the original mother-tongue -as was conclusively demonstrated by Professor Schrader -of Berlin.”</p> - -<p>The following table will show at a glance the position of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_241"></a>241</span> -Arabic in the Semitic family group, <i>dead languages being put -in italics</i>. Arabic, ancient and modern belongs to the South -Semitic group and at an early period supplanted the Himyaritic -in Yemen, although the Mahri and Ehkeli dialects are -still used in the mountains of Hadramaut.<a id="FNanchor_87" href="#Footnote_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> It was practically -the only conquering language on the list and is the only one -that is growing in use.</p> - - -<p>TABLE OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES.</p> - -<p> -NORTHERN:<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="allsmcap">EASTERN</span></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;"><i>Babylonian.</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;"><i>Assyrian.</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="allsmcap">WESTERN</span> (Aramaic)</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Eastern</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Syriac.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Mandean.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;"><i>Nabathean.</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Western</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;"><i>Samaritan.</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;"><i>Jewish Aramaic</i> (as Targums and Talmud).</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;"><i>Palmyrene.</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;"><i>Egyptian Aramaic.</i></span><br /> -<br /> -CENTRAL:<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Phœnician.</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hebrew.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Moabite</i> and <i>Canaanitish dialects</i>.</span><br /> -<br /> -SOUTHERN:<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><b>ARABIC</b> (Ishmaelite)</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">One written language but Modern Dialects in speech.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Maltese [?].</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Morocco.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Algerian, etc.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Egyptian.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Syrian.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Yemen.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Bagdadi.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Omanese, etc.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Himyaritic</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Mahri.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;"><i>Ehkeli.</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ethiopic (Joktanite)</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;"><i>Old Geez.</i></span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Tigre.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Tigrina.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Amharic.</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Harari.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>There are to-day over one hundred Arabic newspapers and -magazines regularly published and which together have an immense -circulation in all parts of the Arabic-speaking world.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_242"></a>242</span></p> - -<p>While the Arabic language has now acknowledged supremacy -above all its sisters, in its historical and literary development -it was last of them all. Not until the seventh century of our era -did Arabic become, in any sense, important. The language received -its literary birthright and its inspiration through the -illiterate prophet who could not read but who set all the Eastern -world to studying his book. The Arabic literature of the -days before Mohammed has a high literary character, but with -all its beauty it was only the morning star that ushered in the -sunrise. When once the Koran was promulgated, literature -and grammar and the sciences all spoke Arabic. It was the -renaissance of the dead and dying East. Whatever effect -the Koran may have had on the social life and morals of a people, -no one denies that it was the Koran and that alone which -rescued Arabic from becoming a local idiom. Again this -Koran was the unifying factor of the new religion, sweeping -everything down before it; not only did it unify the hostile -tribes of Arabia but melted all their dialects into one and -established an ever-abiding classical standard for the remotest -student of the language of revelation. We do not of course -hold, as do the Arabs, that the Arabic of the Koran is absolutely -without a parallel in grammatical purity and diction. -The contrary has been proved by Nöldeke and Dozy. The -latter states that the Koran is “full of bastard-Arabic and has -many grammatical blunders, which are at present unnoticed, -since the grammarians have kindly constructed rules or exceptions -to include even these in the list of unapproachable style -and perfection.”</p> - -<p>The origin and history of the Arabic alphabet is exceedingly -interesting. All writing was originally pictorial, the next stage -being that of the ideogram. Perhaps a trace of this earliest -writing still remains in the <i>wasms</i> or tribal marks of the Bedouin. -Scholars maintain that the earliest Semitic writing we -possess of certain date is that on the Moabite Stone, discovered -by the missionary Klein in 1868. Almost of equal age is the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_243"></a>243</span> -Cyprus and Sidon alphabet, and that of the Phœnicians, found -on ancient coins and monuments. The date of this writing is -put at 890 <span class="allsmcap">B. C.</span> On these monuments and coins the system of -orthography is already so carefully developed as to prove that -the Semites understood the art centuries before that date. The -oldest forms of these Semitic alphabets are in turn derived -(Halévy, Nöldeke) from the Egyptian hieratic characters. -The oldest inscriptions found in North Arabia by Doughty and -Enting, in the Nabatean character, and in South Arabia by -Halévy and others in Himyaritic character, are both written, -like modern Arabic, from right to left. Although the characters -do not resemble each other, this would seem to indicate a -common origin. The intimate connection of the present Arabic -alphabet with the Hebrew or Phœnician, is shown not only by -the forms of the letters, but by their more ancient numerical -arrangement called by the Arabs <i>Abjad</i>, and which corresponds -with the Hebrew order.</p> - -<p><a id="CUFIC_CHARACTERS"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-243" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-243.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"> CUFIC CHARACTERS.</div> -</div> - -<p>Accounts differ even among the Arabs as to who adapted or -invented the present Arabic alphabet from the older Cufic -forms. Some even hold that they both developed simultaneously -out of the Himyaritic. The Cufic, it is true, is found on old -monuments and coins from the Persian Gulf to Spain, and is a -square, apparently more crude kind of writing. But the cursive -script (now called <i>Naskhi</i>) seems to have been in use also -long before Mohammed’s time, the Arab historians to the contrary -notwithstanding, for the exigencies of daily life. That -writing was known at Mecca before the era of Mohammed is -acknowledged by Moslem tradition and the close intercourse<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_244"></a>244</span> -with Yemen long before that time would certainly indicate -some knowledge of Himyaritic. Syriac and Hebrew were also -known in Mecca and Medina because of the Jewish population, -and it is not improbable that this may have had influence -on the present form of the Arabic alphabet.</p> - -<p><a id="MODERN_COPYBOOK_STYLE_OF_ARABIC"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-244" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-244.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">MODERN COPYBOOK STYLE OF ARABIC (VOWELED.)<br /> -ORDINARY ARABIC HANDWRITING (UNVOWELED.)</div> -</div> - -<p>It is not without reason that Mohammed’s cognomen for Jew -and Christian alike was, “the people of the <i>Book</i>.” At first, -like the Hebrew, Arabic had no vowel-points or diacritical -marks. In the earliest Cufic Koran manuscripts these have the -form of accents, horizontal lines or even triangles. The Arabs -tell many interesting stories about the cause and occasion of -their invention by Abu Aswad ad Duili or by Nasr bin ’Asim. -In each case the awful sin of mispronouncing a word in the -Koran leads to the device of vowel-points as a future preventative. -According to another tradition it was Hasan-el-Basri -(who died <span class="allsmcap">A. H.</span> 110) that first pointed the Koran text with the -assistance of Yahya bin Yámar. The vowel-points, so called, -were in reality the abbreviated weak-consonants and were -placed, in accordance with the sound of these letters, when so -pronounced. The vowel-points and diacritical marks are al<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_245"></a>245</span>ways -found in copies of the Koran, but seldom in other books -and never in epistolary writing. They are considered by the -Arabs themselves as at best a necessary evil, except for grammarians -and purists. The story is told that an elaborate piece -of Arabic penmanship was once presented to the governor of -Khorasan under the Caliph al Mamun, and that he exclaimed, -“How beautiful this would be if there were not so much coriander -seed scattered over it!”</p> - -<p><a id="MOGREBI_ARABIC_OF_NORTH_AFRICA"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-245" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-245.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">MOGREBI ARABIC OF NORTH AFRICA (UNVOWELED.)</div> -</div> - -<p>The demand for perfect accuracy in copying the Koran in -every detail of point and accent, led the Arabs to glorify the -art of caligraphy, and, as they followed neither painting nor -sculpture because of their creed, they naturally put all their -artistic taste into their manuscripts. Brilliantly colored and -adorned with gold on delicately tinted parchment, or paper, the -fanciful chapter-headings and the elegant tracery of each letter -in the book make such an old manuscript Koran a real work -of art. Three names are recorded of those who in the early -days of Islam were the Raphaels and Michael Angelos of the -reed-pen; Wazir Muhammed bin Ali, Ali bin Hilal al Bauwab, -and Abu-’d-Dur bin Yakut al Musta’sami. As time went by -there arose various schools of this art; chiefly distinguished as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_246"></a>246</span> -the Magrib-Berber or Western, and the Turko-Arab or Eastern -style. In the decorations of the Alhambra the western school -shows some of its most finished art, while Damascus and Cairo -mosques show the delicate “Arabesque” traceries of the -lighter oriental school. It is in manuscripts, however, that the -best work is found; some of these are of priceless value and -exceeding beauty. Even to-day there are Arab penmen whose -work commands a good price as <i>art</i> and gives them a position -in society as it did the monkey, described in the Arabian -Nights, who improvised poetry in five styles of caligraphy for -the astonished king.</p> - -<p><a id="PERSIAN_STYLE_EXTENSIVELY_USED_IN_EASTERN_ARABIA"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-246" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-246.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">PERSIAN STYLE EXTENSIVELY USED IN EASTERN ARABIA.</div> -</div> - -<p>The Arabic language is distinguished among those that know -it for its <i>beauty</i>, and among those who are learning it for its -<i>difficulty</i>. To the Arabs their language is not only the language -of revelation, but of the Revealer himself. Allah speaks -Arabic in heaven, and on the day of judgment will judge the -world in this “language of the angels.” All other tongues are -vastly inferior in grammatical construction, and what else could -they be since the Koran with its classical perfection has existed -before all words, uncreated, written on the preserved tablet in -heaven, the daily delight of the innumerable company of angels! -As Renan says, “among a people so preoccupied with language -as the Arabs, the <i>language</i> of the Koran became as it were a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_247"></a>247</span> -second religion, a sort of dogma inseparable from Islam.” But -the innate beauty of the language is acknowledged by all who -have made it a study, whether born on the soil of Arabia or -educated in the universities of Europe. From the days of the -Dutch scholars, De Dieu, Schultens, Schroeder and Scheid, -and the Swiss Hottinger to the times of Nöldeke, Gesenius and -Renan, the praises of Arabic have been proclaimed in Europe, -and its study pursued with a devotion that almost amounted to -a passion.</p> - -<p>The elements of beauty in this language are many. There -is first its logical structure, which, we are told, surpasses that of -any other language. Even the order of the alphabet is more -logical as regards form than the Hebrew; its grammar is altogether -logical; the exceptions to its rules can be formed, so to -say, into a syllogism. Palmer’s and Lansing’s grammars show -how this logical structure can be discovered in the minutest detail, -so that, <i>e. g.</i>, the three short vowels control the forms not -only, but the significance of roots, and are the key to the interpretation -of all grammatical mysteries.</p> - -<p>A second element of beauty is found in the lexical richness -of the Arabic. Its boundless vocabulary and wealth of synonyms -are universally acknowledged and admired. A dictionary -is called a <i>Kamoos</i> or “Deep Ocean” where “full many -a gem of purest ray serene, the dark unfathomed caves” conceal -for the diligent student. Renan tells of an Arab linguist -who wrote a book on the 500 names given to the lion in literature; -another gives 200 words for serpent. Firozabadi, the -Arabian Webster, is said to have written a sort of supplement -on the words for honey and to have left it incomplete at the -<i>eightieth</i> word; the same authority asserts that there are over -1,000 different terms in Arabic for sword and, judging from -its use by the Arabs, this appears credible. De Hammer -Purgstall, a German scholar, wrote a book on the words relating -to the <i>camel</i> and finds them, in Arabic literature, to the -number of 5,744. But this remarkable exhibition loses some<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_248"></a>248</span> -of its grandeur when truth compels us to state that many of -the so-called synonyms are epithets changed into substantives -or tropes accidentally employed by some poet to conform to -his rhyme. It is also true that the wealth of synonym is -limited in Arabic to a certain class of words; in other departments -of thought, ethics for example, the language is wofully -poor, not even having a distinctive word for conscience.</p> - -<p>A third point of beauty in the Arabic language is its purity -as compared with other Semitic languages or even all other -languages. This was partly due to the geographical location -of the Arabs and is still due to their early literature together -with the Koran which has put a classical standard into the -hands of every schoolboy and has prevented, by the law of -religion, both development and deterioration. “While other -languages of the same family became dead and while many of -their forms and meanings changed or disappeared, the Arabic -remained comparatively pure and intact excepting perhaps the -temporary corruption which necessarily occurred during the -Moslem conquests and foreign applications of the first four -Caliphs.”<a id="FNanchor_88" href="#Footnote_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a></p> - -<p>The Arabic race occupied at first a circumscribed territory -and came little into contact with the surrounding nations so -that the forces which produce linguistic decay were absent. -The only thing that will preserve a language pure next to isolation -is a classical literature. English has changed less since -Shakespeare’s time than it did in the interval between him and -Chaucer. So too with Arabic. Had it not been for the -Koran and its cognate literature, by this time the people of -Syria, Egypt, Morocco and Oman would perhaps scarcely -understand each other, and their written language would differ -vastly; but the existence of this literature has kept the written -language a unit and put a constant check on the vagaries of -dialect.</p> - -<p>The last, and chief element of beauty in the Arabic tongue<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_249"></a>249</span> -is undoubtedly its wonderful literature. In poetry alone, the -Arabians can challenge the world; in grammar, logic and -rhetoric the number of their works is legion; while both at -Bagdad and Cordova Arab historians and biographers filled -whole libraries with their learning; in Cordova the royal library -contained 400,000 volumes. Algebra and Astronomy -are specially indebted to the Arabs; all the sciences received -attention and some of them addition from the Arabian mind.</p> - -<p>The Arabic tongue is not only beautiful but it is difficult, -exceedingly difficult, to every one who attempts to really -master it. One of the veteran missionaries of Egypt wrote, in -1864, “I would rather traverse Africa from Alexandria to the -Cape of Good Hope, than undertake a second time to master -the Arabic language.” The first difficulty is its correct pronunciation. -Some Arabic letters cannot be transliterated into -English, although certain grammars take infinite pains to accomplish -the impossible. The gutturals belong to the desert -and were doubtless borrowed from the camel when she complained -of overloading. There are also one or two other -letters which sorely try the patience of the beginner and in -some cases remain obstinate to the end. Then the student soon -learns, and the sooner the better, that Arabic is totally different -in construction from European tongues and that “as far as the -East is from the West” so far he must modify his ideas as to -the correct way of expressing thought; and this means to disregard -all notions of Indo-European grammar when in touch -with the sons of Shem. Every word in the Arabic language is -referred to a root of three letters. These roots are modified by -prefixes, infixes and suffixes, according to definite models, so -that from one root a host of words can be constructed and -vice versa, from a compounded word all the servile letters and -syllables must be eliminated to find the original root. This -digging for roots and building up of roots is not a pastime at -the outset because of the extent of the root-garden. Dozy’s -<i>supplement</i> to Lane’s Monumental Arabic Lexicon has 1,714<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_250"></a>250</span> -pages. So large in fact is the vocabulary of Arabic writers -that the classics require copious explanatory notes for the -Arabs themselves and some of them have written notes on the -notes, to explain the difficult words used in explaining others -more difficult. Moreover Arabic literature is so vast in its -extent that acquaintance with the vocabulary of a dozen -authors in one line of literature does not yet enable the student -to appreciate the language of other works. You may be able -to read the Koran tolerably well and understand its diction -and yet when you turn to the Arabian Shakespeare or Milton -find yourself literally at sea, in the <i>Kamoos</i>, and unable to -understand a single line.</p> - -<p>The regular verb in Arabic has fifteen conjugations, two -voices, two tenses, and several moods; the irregular verbs are -many and mysterious to the beginner although grammarians -try to make them appear easier by demonstrating that all their -irregularities are strictly logical, not the result of linguistic perversity -but foreseen calculation and providential wisdom. Is it -not “the language of the angels”?—even the broken-plurals?</p> - -<p>As a final testimony to the difficulties of the Arabic language -listen to Ion Keith Falconer. After passing the Semitic -Languages Tripos at Cambridge under Dr. Wright, and taking -a special course in Arabic at Leipzig, he writes from Assiut -in Egypt: “I am getting on in Arabic, but it is most appallingly -hard.... I have learned a good deal and can -make myself intelligible to servants and porters. I have a -teacher every day for two hours and translate from a child’s -reading book.” After <i>five years</i> of further study he writes -once more from Aden (Jan. 17, 1886), “I am learning to -speak Arabic quite nicely but it will be long before I can deliver -real discourses.” And this man was an all-around -scholar with a passion for languages. Without any doubt -Arabic <i>is</i> one of the most difficult languages in the world to -acquire with any degree of fluency, and progress in its attainment -means ceaseless plodding and endless diligence.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_251"></a>251</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XXV">XXV<br /> - -<small>THE LITERATURE OF THE ARABS</small></h2></div> - - -<p>The literature of the Arabs is either pre-Islamic or post-Islamic; -the former has as its chief classics the Muallakāt -or seven suspended poems, the latter finds its centre and apex as -well as its origin and inspiration in the Koran. The seven ancient -poems, still extant, are also called <i>Muthahabat</i> or the -“golden poems,” and it is generally admitted by Arabic scholars -that this was indeed the golden age of Arab literature. Zuhair, -Zarafah, Imru-l-Kais, Amru-ibn-Kulsum, Al Harith, ’Antar -and Labid were the authors of these poems and all but the last -were idolaters, and belong to what the conceit of Islam calls -“the Time of Ignorance.” These poems furnished the model -ever afterward for later writers and, according to Baron de -Slane, are remarkable for their perfection of form and exhibit a -high degree of linguistic culture.</p> - -<p>But the Koran has eclipsed all that ever went before it or came -after it in the eyes of the Arabs. It is the paragon of literary -perfection as well as of moral beauty. Its style is inimitable -because it is Divine in the highest sense of the word. To criticise -its diction is to be guilty of blasphemy and to compare it with -other literature is to commit sacrilege. There is no doubt that -the chief charm of the Koran from a literary standpoint is its -musical jingle and cadence. It is such as the Arabs, the earliest -masters of rhyme, love, and servilely imitate in all their later -prose works. Our English translations of the Koran, although -accurate, (and even idiomatic, as Palmer’s) cannot reproduce -this; in consequence the book appears vapid, monotonous and -to the last degree wearisome and uninteresting. Attempts have -been made by Burton and others to acquaint English readers<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_252"></a>252</span> -with this element of beauty in Mohammed’s revelation. The -following<a id="FNanchor_89" href="#Footnote_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> is almost equal to the Arabic itself, and, to say the -least, sounds more interesting than Sale’s prose version of the -same passage:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I swear by the splendor of light</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And by the silence of night</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That the Lord shall never forsake thee</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor in His hatred take thee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Truly for thee shall be winning</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Better than all beginning</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Soon shall the Lord console thee, grief no longer control thee,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And fear no longer cajole thee.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thou wert an orphan-boy, yet the Lord found room for thy head.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When thy feet went astray, were they not to the right path led?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Did He not find thee poor, yet riches around thee spread?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then on the orphan-boy, let thy proud foot never tread,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And never turn away the beggar who asks for bread,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But of the Lord’s bounty ever let praise be sung and said.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>It is not to be expected that all the transcendant excellencies -and miraculous beauties which Moslem commentators find in -the Koran should unveil themselves to cold, unsympathizing -western gaze, but that the book has a certain literary beauty no -one can deny who has read it in the original. As Penrice says -in his preface to his Dictionary of the Koran, “Beauties there -are many and great; ideas highly poetical are clothed in rich -and appropriate language, which not unfrequently rises to a -sublimity far beyond the reach of any translation; but it is unfortunately -the case that many of those graces which present -themselves to the admiration of the finished scholar are but so -many stumbling-blocks in the way of the beginner; the marvellous -conciseness which adds so greatly to the force and energy -of its expressions cannot fail to perplex him while the frequent -use of the ellipse leaves in his mind a feeling of vagueness not -altogether out of character in a work of its oracular and <i>soi-disant</i> -prophetic nature.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_253"></a>253</span></p> - -<p>The greatest literary treasure of the Arabs next to the Koran -is the <i>Makāmat</i> of Al Hariri. No one of polite scholarship -would dare profess ignorance of this great classic, and the reader -of these “Assemblies” is introduced to every branch of Mohammedan -learning—poetry, history, antiquities, theology and law. -Recently Hariri has been translated into English by Chenery -and an earlier translation by Preston has also been printed. -Stanley Lane-Poole reviewing these translations thus characterizes -this Shakespeare of the Arabic world:</p> - -<p>“It is difficult, no doubt, for most Westerns to appreciate the -beauties of this celebrated classic. There is no cohesion, no -connecting idea, between the fifty separate ‘Assemblies,’ beyond -the regular reappearance of an egregious Tartufe, called Abu-Zeyd, -a Bohemian of brilliant parts and absolutely no conscience, -who consistently extracts alms from assemblies of people -in various cities, by preaching eloquent discourses of the highest -piety and morality, and then goes off with his spoils to indulge -secretly in triumphant and unhallowed revels. Even in this -framework there is no attempt at originality; it is borrowed -from Hamadâni, the ‘Wonder of the Age.’ The excellence -lies in the perfect finish: the matter is nothing; the charm -consists in the form alone. Yet this form is, to English readers, -exotic and artificial. Among its special merits, in the eyes -of Easterns, is the perpetual employment of rimed prose. To -us this is apt to seem at once monotonous and strained, with -its antithetic balance in sense, and jingle of sound; but to the -Arabs, as to many primitive peoples, either riming or assonant -prose was from early times a natural mode of impassioned and -impressive speech. It is the mode adopted constantly and without -strain in the Koran, and it is the mode into which an historian, -such as Ibn-el-Athîr, falls naturally when he waxes eloquent -over a great victory or a famous deed....</p> - -<p>“But if we do not care for rimed prose, there is plenty besides -in Hariri to minister to varied tastes. In these wonderful -‘Assemblies,’ we shall find every kind of literary form, except<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_254"></a>254</span> -the shambling and the vulgar. Pagan rhetoric, Moslem exhortation, -simple verse, elaborate ode, everything that the immeasurable -flexibility of the Arabic tongue and the curious art -of a fastidious scholar could achieve—all is here, and we may -take our choice.”</p> - -<p>What is said by this scholarly critic of Hariri holds true of -most Arabic poetry, it lacks unity of idea and sobriety of expression. -All is intense. Every beautiful eye is a narcissus; tears -are pearls; teeth are pearls or hail-stones; lips are rubies; the -gums, pomegranate blossoms; piercing eyes are swords, and -the eyelids, scabbards; a mole is an ant creeping to suck the -honey from the lips; a handsome face is a full-moon; an erect -form is the letter alif as penned by Wazir Muhammed; black -hair is night; the waist is a willow-branch or a lance, and love -is always passion. Far-fetched allusions abound and the <i>sense</i> -at every turn must do homage to the <i>sound</i>. In the judgment -of Baron de Slane the two notable exceptions to the rule are Al -Mutanabbi and Ibn El Farid who exhibit a daring and surprising -originality often approaching the sublime and, in the case -of the latter, mystic reveries and spiritual beauties of no mean -order.</p> - -<p>The influence of the Arabic language on other tongues and -peoples has also been great, ever since the rise of Islam. The -Persian language adopted the Arabic alphabet and a large -number of Arabic words and phrases; so that, as Renan remarks, -in some Persian books all the words are Arabic and -only the grammar remains in the vernacular. As for Hindustani, -three-fourths of its vocabulary consists of Arabic words -or Arabic words derived through the Persian. The Turkish -language also is indebted for many words taken from the -Arabic and uses the Arabic alphabet. The Malay language, -with the Moslem conquest, was also touched by Arabic influence -and likewise adopted its alphabet. In Africa its influence -was yet more strongly felt. The language extended over all -the northern half of the continent and is still growing in use<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_255"></a>255</span> -to-day. The geographical nomenclature of the interior is -Arabic and Arabs preceded Livingstone, Stanley and Speke in -all their journeys. The languages of the southern Sudan, the -Hausa, and even those of Guinea borrowed largely from the -Arabic. Europe itself did not escape the influence of the -conquering Semitic tongue. Spanish and Portuguese betray a -vast number of Arabic words and idioms. French and English -are also indebted to Arabic in no small degree for many -scientific and technical words introduced at the time of the -crusades and even earlier. Here is a partial list of those which -we received directly or indirectly from the Arab tongue, as -given in Skeat’s Etymological Dictionary and arranged into -sentences; every word in italics is of Arabic origin.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“The <i>Nabob Mohammedan Magazine</i> relates, that years after -the <i>Hegira</i>, a <i>saracen caliph</i> or <i>Mameluke sultan</i>, sat with -his <i>mussulman emir</i>, <i>admiral</i>, <i>vizier</i>, <i>moslem mufti</i> and -<i>Koran-munshee</i>, (who knew <i>alchemy</i> and <i>algebra</i> and could -<i>cipher</i> the <i>azimuth</i> and <i>nadir</i> to <i>zero</i>), <i>sheikh</i> of the <i>hareem</i>, -<i>muezzin</i> and <i>tariff-dragoman</i> of the <i>arsenal</i>, under a <i>carob</i>-tree, -on <i>sofas</i> of <i>mohair-mattress</i> covered with <i>jerboa-</i> and -<i>gazelle-skins</i>, drinking <i>coffee</i>, <i>saffron-elixer</i>, <i>arrack</i>, <i>alcohol</i> -and <i>syrup</i> of <i>senna, carraway</i> and <i>sumach</i>. For tonic -they also had <i>rose-attar</i>, <i>artichokes</i>, <i>alkaline-nitre</i> in <i>myrrh</i>, -<i>taraxacum</i>, <i>otto-sherbet</i>, and <i>naphtha</i> in <i>amber</i> cups. The -<i>Sultan’s</i> infant daughter wore a <i>carmine cotton</i> and-<i>muslin -chemise</i> or <i>diaper</i> with a <i>civet talisman</i> and <i>jasper amulet</i>; -she played a <i>Tartar lute</i>. Suddenly a <i>giaour Bedouin -assassin</i> with an <i>assagai</i> and <i>hookah-masque</i> came down on -them from behind an <i>alcove</i> of the neighboring <i>arabesque -mosque minaret</i> like a <i>sirocco-simoon</i> or <i>monsoon</i> and killed -them all.”</p></div> - -<p>Most of these words came from the Arabic through other languages -such as French and Spanish; others were directly -transferred from the Arabic to English; and still others have -passed the long journey from Arabic to Greek, to Latin, to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_256"></a>256</span> -Italian, to French and thence to English. The word <i>magazine</i> -is perhaps the best example of how an Arabic-root found -shelter in the soil of all the European languages and grew into -manifold significations from its original meaning with the -Arabs, <i>ghazana</i> = to collect or store.</p> - -<p>In modern days, especially since the opening of the Suez -canal, the English language is beginning to exert its influence -on Arabic. In Egypt, Syria and the Persian Gulf many English -commercial terms are being adopted into the language and -the newspapers spread their use everywhere.</p> - -<p>Last, but not least, there is the immense, incalculable influence -on the Arabic-tongue for all time exerted by the toil and -sacrifice of the early missionaries to Syria through their college -and press in giving to the world a modern Christian and -scientific literature and that crowning work of Drs. Eli Smith -and C. V. A. Van Dyck—the Arabic Bible. The mission -press at Beirut has four hundred and eighty three volumes on -its catalogue and prints about twenty-five million pages annually.<a id="FNanchor_90" href="#Footnote_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a> -The Arabic Bible “one of the noblest literally monuments -of the age” will yet prove a mighty influence in purifying -and ennobling the language and preserving its classical dic<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_257"></a>257</span>tion -to the utmost bounds of the Arab-world. There was only -one Koran and there will be only one Arabic Bible—the -finished product of American scholarship and her best gift to -the Mohammedan world.</p> - -<p><a id="TITLE_PAGE_OF_A_CHRISTIAN_PAPER"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-257" style="max-width: 93.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-257.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">TITLE PAGE OF A CHRISTIAN PAPER PRINTED IN ARABIC.</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_258"></a>258</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XXVI">XXVI<br /> - -<small>THE ARAB</small></h2></div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Children of Shem! Firstborn of Noah’s race</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And still forever children; at the door</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of Eden found, unconscious of disgrace,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And loitering on while all are gone before;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Too proud to dig, too careless to be poor</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Taking the gifts of God in thanklessness,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Not rendering aught, nor supplicating more,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor arguing with Him if He hide His face.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yours is the rain and sunshine, and the way</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of an old wisdom, by our world forgot,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The courage of a day which knew not death;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Well may we sons of Japhet, in dismay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pause in our vain mad fight for life and breath,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Beholding you—I bow and reason not”—<i>Anon.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<p>Concerning the origin of the tribes and people that -now inhabit the Arabian peninsula there is disagreement -among the learned. It is generally held that the original -tribes of Northern Arabia are descendants of Ishmael. This -is also the tradition of all Arab historians. As to the South -Arabians, who occupied their highlands with the Hadramaut -coast for centuries before the Ishmaelites appeared on the scene -there are two opinions. Some believe them to be descendants -of Joktan (Arabic <i>Kahtan</i>) the son of Heber and therefore, -like the Northern Arabs, true Semites. Others think that the -earliest inhabitants of South Arabia were Cushites or Hamitic; -while some German scholars hold that in the earlier Arabs the -children of Joktan and of Cush were blended into one race.</p> - -<p>Among the Ishmaelites are included not only Ishmael’s direct -descendants through the twelve princes,<a id="FNanchor_91" href="#Footnote_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> but the Edomites, Moa<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_259"></a>259</span>bites, -Ammonites, Midianites and probably other cognate tribes. -The names of the sons of Ishmael in relation to their settlements -and the traces of these names in modern Arabia is a subject -which has been taken up by Bible dictionaries but which -still offers an interesting field for further study. The Arabs -themselves have always claimed Abrahamic descent for the -tribes of the north. The age-long, racial animosity between -the Yemenites and Māadites seems to confirm the theory of two -distinct races inhabiting the peninsula from very early times; -and they remain distinct until to-day in spite of a common -language and a common religion. “The animosity of these -two races to each other is unaccountable but invincible. Like -two chemical products which instantly explode when placed -in contact, so has it always been found impossible for Yemenite -and Māadite to live quietly together. At the present day the -Yemenite in the vicinity of Jerusalem detests the Māadite of -Hebron, and when questioned as to the reason of their eternal -enmity has no other reply but that it has been so from time immemorial. -In the time of the Caliphs the territory of Damascus -was desolated by a murderous war for two years, because a -Māadite had taken a lemon from the garden of a Yemenite. -The province of Murcia in Spain was deluged with blood for -seven years because a Māadite inadvertently plucked a Yemenite -vine-leaf. It was a passion which surmounted every tie of -affection or interest. ‘You have prayed for your father: why -do you not pray for your mother?’ a Yemenite was asked near -the Kaaba. ‘For my mother!’ said the Yemenite, ‘How could -I? She was of the race of Māad.’”<a id="FNanchor_92" href="#Footnote_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a></p> - -<p>The Yemenites at a very early period founded the strong -and opulent Himyarite Kingdom. The Himyarites were the -navigators of the East and they were celebrated for their skill -in manufacture as well as for enterprise in commerce; they had -a written language, inscriptions in which were discovered all -over south Arabia during the present century. The Māadite or<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_260"></a>260</span> -Ishmaelite Arabs on the contrary were more nomad in their -habits and were masters of the caravans which carried the -enormous overland trade by the two great trunk-lines of antiquity, -from the East to the West. One of these lines extended -from Aden, (Arabia Emporium of Ptolemy) along the western -part of the peninsula and through Yemen to Egypt; the other -extended from Babylon to Tadmor and Damascus. A third -route, nearly as important, was also in the hands of the Ishmaelite -Arabs, by Wady Rumma and Nejd to the old capital -of the Himyarites, Mareb.<a id="FNanchor_93" href="#Footnote_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a> These caravans unified the Arabian -peninsula and fused into one its two peoples; the northern -Arabs receiving somewhat of the southern civilization and the -southern Arabs adopting the language of the north. But the -decline in the caravan trade brought disaster to Arabia; the -ship of the desert found a competitor in the ships of the sea. -Old settlements were broken up, great cities, which flourished -because of overland trade, were abandoned and whole tribes -were reduced from opulence to poverty. In this time of transition, -long before the birth of Mohammed, the Arabic nation -as it is known to modern history seems to have been formed.</p> - -<p>The modern Arabs classify themselves into Bedouins and -town-dwellers; or, in their own poetic way, <i>ahl el beit</i> and <i>ahl -el h’eit</i>, “the people of the tent,” and “the people of the wall.” -But this classification is hardly sufficient, although it has been -generally adopted by writers on Arabia. Edson L. Clark, in -his book, The Arabs and the Turks, gives five classes: “Beginning -at the lowest round of the ladder we have first the sedentary -or settled Arabs. .. who though still many of -them dwelling in tents have become cultivators of the soil. By -their nomadic brethren these settled Arabs are thoroughly despised -as degraded and denationalized by the change in their -mode of life. Secondly, the wandering tribes in the neighborhood -of the settled districts, and in constant intercourse with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_261"></a>261</span> -their inhabitants. Both these classes, but more especially the latter, -are thoroughly demoralized.... The third class consists -of the Arabs of the Turkish towns and villages; but they too -are a degenerate class both in language and character.... -The fourth class consists of the inhabitants of the towns and -villages of Arabia proper, who by their peculiar situation have -remained more secluded from the rest of the world than even -the wandering tribes.... Finally the great nomadic -tribes of the interior, still preserving unchanged the primitive -character, habits and customs of their race.” This last class -and this alone are the real Bedouins.</p> - -<p>In addition to this classification according to civilization -there is the universal genealogical classification; and no people -in the world are fonder of genealogies than the Arabs. The -names of tribes and families go back, in many cases to pre-islamic -days. The earliest tribal-names, therefore, are either -taken from animals or totem-names, like Panthers, Dogs, Lizards, -<i>e. g.</i>, <i>Anmar Kilab</i>, <i>Dibab</i>, etc.; place-names transformed -afterward by the genealogists into ancestors, <i>e. g.</i>, -<i>Hadramaut</i>, <i>Hauāb</i>; or from idols and idol-worship, <i>e. g.</i>, -<i>Abd el Kais</i>, <i>Abd al Lat</i>, etc. But the later system of genealogies -as given by the Arabs are utterly unreliable because they -are so evidently artificial. The backbone of the system was -the pedigree of Mohammed and this is notoriously untrustworthy. -“Dummy ancestors” were inserted in order to connect -a particular but unimportant tribe with a distinguished one, -and Hamdani himself tells us that he found it a common practice -of obscure desert groups to call themselves by the name of -some more famous tribe.<a id="FNanchor_94" href="#Footnote_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a></p> - -<p>Character is difficult to define. To depict the moral physiognomy -of a nation and their physical traits in such a way -that nothing important is omitted and no single characteristic -exaggerated at the cost of others. This difficulty is increased -in the case of the Arabs, by their twofold origin and their<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_262"></a>262</span> -present twofold civilization. That which is true of the town-dweller, -is not always true of the Bedouin and vice versa. -Moreover the influence of the neighboring countries must be -taken into account. Eastern Arabia has taken color by long contact -with Persia; this is seen in speech, architecture, food and -dress. Southern Arabia, especially Hadramaut, has absorbed -East Indian ideas. While Western Arabia, especially Hejaz, -shows in many ways its proximity to Egypt. Not losing sight -of these distinctions, which will account for many exceptions -to the general statements made, what is the character of the -Arabs?</p> - -<p>Physically, they are undoubtedly one of the strongest and -noblest races of the world. Baron de Larrey, surgeon-general -of the first Napoleon, in his expeditions to Egypt and Syria, -says: “Their physical structure is in all respects more perfect -than that of Europeans; their organs of sense exquisitely acute, -their size above the average of men in general, their figure robust -and elegant, the color brown; their intelligence proportionate -to their physical perfection, and without doubt superior, -other things being equal, to that of other nations.”</p> - -<p>The typical Arab face is round-oval, but the general leanness -of the features detracts from its regularity; the bones are -prominent; the eyebrows long and bushy; the eye small, deep-set, -fiery black or a dark, deep brown. The face expresses -half dignity, half cunning, and is not unkindly, although never -smiling or benignant. The teeth are white, even, short and -broad. The Arabs have very scanty beards as a rule, but those -of the towns often cultivate a patriarchal beard like the traditional -beard of the prophet. The figure is well-knit, muscular, -long-limbed, never fat. The arms and legs are thin, almost -shrunken, but with muscles like whip-cords. As young -men the Bedouins are often good-looking, with bright eyes and -dark hair, but the constant habit of frowning to protect the eyes -from the glare of the sun, soon gives the face a fierce aspect; at -forty their beards turn grey and at fifty they appear old men.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_263"></a>263</span></p> - -<p>It is a common mistake to consider the Arabs democratic in -their ideas of society. The genuine Arab was and is always -an aristocrat. Feuds originate about the precedence of one -family or tribe over another; marriage is only allowed between -tribes or clans of equal standing; the whole system of sheikh-government -is an aristocratic idea; and as final proof there -still exists a species of caste in South Arabia, while in North -Arabia the Ma’adan Arabs of Mesopotamia and the <i>Suleyb</i> of -the desert are little better than Pariahs as regards their neighbors. -It is with a heavy heart that any Arab sees set over him -a man of less noble extraction than himself. The religion of -Arabia has made its people fanatics, although according to -Nöldeke, “fanaticism is characteristic of all Semitic religions.” -But he forgets the real distinction between intolerance of another -religion on ethical grounds as in the case of Judaism, and the -infinitely hard, one-sided, crude exclusiveness of Islam.</p> - -<p>The Arabs rarely have the power of taking in complex unities -at a glance; the talent for arrangement is absent. An Arab carpenter -cannot draw a right angle, nor can an Arab servant lay -a tablecloth square on the table. The old Arab temple called -a cube (Kaaba) has <i>none</i> of its sides or angles equal; their -houses show the same lack of the “carpenter’s eye” to-day. -Streets are seldom parallel, even the street, so-called, was not -<i>straight</i> in Damascus. The Arab mind loves units, not unity; -they are good soldiers, but poor generals; there is no partnership -in business; and no public spirit; each man lives for -himself. That is the reason why Yemen cannot shake off the -yoke of the Turk, and this explains why the smallest towns in -Arabia have a great many little mosques. The Arab has a -keen eye for particulars, great subjectivity, nervous restlessness, -deep passion and inward feeling, and yet joined with strong -conservatism and love of the past. In everything he follows -old models and traditions; witness their poetry and their tent-life—in -Arab phrase, termed their “houses of hair” and their -“houses of poetry.” As a result of their language-structure,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_264"></a>264</span> -the Arabs have naturally a strong tendency to a pointed, sharp -speech of epigrammatic brevity, but also go to the other extreme -of ornate tautology. The former is characteristic of the -desert; the latter of the towns. Eloquence and poetry are -still worshipped. The only fine art which Arabs admire is that -of caligraphy; and those who have seen finished specimens of -an Arab master-penman, must acknowledge that in them are all -the elements of painting and sculpture.</p> - -<p>The Arabs are polite, good-natured, lively, manly, patient, -courageous and hospitable to a fault. They are also contentious, -untruthful, sensuous, distrustful, covetous, proud and -superstitious. One must always keep in mind this paradox in -dealing with an Arab. As Clark expresses it, “an Arab will -lie and cheat, and swear any number of false oaths, in a -pecuniary transaction; but when once his faith is pledged he -can be implicitly trusted, even to the last extremity.” There -are Arab oaths such as <i>wallah</i>, which are intended to confirm -falsehoods and signify nothing. There are others, such as the -threefold oath, with <i>wa</i>, <i>bi</i> and <i>ti</i> as particles of swearing, -which not even the vilest robber among them dare break. -Grammatically, the two oaths are nearly the same.</p> - -<p>Robbery is a fine art among the nomads; but the high-minded -Arab robs lawfully, honestly and honorably. He will -not attack his victims in the night; he tries to avoid all bloodshed -by coming with overwhelming force; and if his enterprise -miscarries, he boldly enters the first tent possible, proclaims his -true character and asks protection. The <i>Dakheil</i>, or privilege -of sanctuary, the salt covenant, the blood covenant and the -sacredness of the guest, all prove that the Arabs are trustworthy. -And yet, in the ordinary affairs of life, lying and deception -are the rule and seldom the exception. The true Arab -is niggardly when he buys, and will haggle for hours to reduce -a price; and yet he is prodigal and lavish in giving away his -goods to prove his hospitality.</p> - -<p>According to Burckhardt, the Arab is the only real lover of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_265"></a>265</span> -the Orient; if he limits this to the Bedouin-Arab he is correct. -In matters of love and marriage the Arab of the towns is what -Mohammed, the Meccan merchant was, after the death of the -old lady Khadijah. But Arabic poetry of the times of ignorance -does occasionally breathe the true tale of love and chivalry; -and the desert Arabs as a rule are not polygamists nor -given to divorce.</p> - -<p>It was a law among the ancient Arabs that whoever sheds the -blood of a man owes blood on that account to the family of the -slain. This law of blood-revenge was confirmed by the Koran -and is a sacred right everywhere in Arabia. An Arab is considered -degenerate who accepts a fine or any consideration save -blood for blood. This law is both the cause of continual -feuds, and tends to terminate them without much bloodshed. -Arabs of the town and of the desert will quarrel for hours -without coming to blows; it is not cowardice that prevents an -open encounter, but the fear of shedding blood and blood-revenge.</p> - -<p>Family life among the Arabs is best studied by looking at -child-life in the desert and at the position of women among the -Bedouin and the town-dwellers. In no part of the world does -the newborn child meet less preparation for its reception than -among the Bedouin. A land bare of many blessings, general -poverty and the law of the survival of the fittest, has made the -Arab mother stern of heart. In the open desert under the -shade of an acacia bush or behind a camel, the Arab baby first -sees the daylight. As soon as it is born the mother herself rubs -and cleans the child with sand, places it in her handkerchief -and carries it home. She suckles the child for a short period, -and at the age of four months it already drinks profusely of -camels’ milk. A name is given to the infant immediately; -generally from some trifling incident connected with its birth, -or from some object which attracts the mother’s fancy. Moslem -names such as Hassan Ali or Fatimah, are extremely uncommon -among the true Bedouins; although Mohammed is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_266"></a>266</span> -sometimes given. Beside his own peculiar name every Bedouin -boy is called by the name of his father and tribe. And what -is more remarkable, boys are often called after their sisters, -<i>e. g.</i>, <i>Akhoo Noorah</i>, the brother of Noorah. Girls’ names -are taken from the constellations, birds, or desert animals like -<i>Gazelle</i>.</p> - -<p>In education the Arab is a true child of nature. His parents -leave him to his own sweet will; they seldom chastise and -seldom praise. Trained from birth in the hard school of -nomad life, fatigue and danger do contribute much to his education. -Burckhardt says, “I have seen parties of naked boys -playing at noonday upon the burning sand in the middle of -summer, running until they had fatigued themselves, and when -they returned to their fathers’ tents they were scolded for not -continuing the exercise. Instead of teaching the boy civil -manners, the father desires him to beat and pelt the strangers -who come to the tent; to steal or secrete some trifling article -belonging to them. The more saucy and impudent children -are the more they are praised since this is taken as an indication -of future enterprise and warlike disposition. Bedouin -children, male and female, go unclad and play together until -their sixth year. The first child’s festival is that of circumcision. -At the age of seven years the day is fixed, sheep are -killed and a large dish of food is cooked. Women accompany -the operation with a loud song and afterward there is dancing -and horseback riding and encounters with lances. The girls -adorn themselves with cheap jewelry and tent-poles are decorated -with ostrich feathers. Altogether it is a gala-day.</p> - -<p><a id="CHURNING_BUTTER_IN_A_BEDOUIN_CAMP"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-266" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-266.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">CHURNING BUTTER IN A BEDOUIN CAMP.</div> -</div> - - -<p>The Bedouin children have few toys but they manage to -amuse themselves with many games. I have seen a group of -happy children, each with a pet locust on a bit of string, -watching whose steed should win the race. The boys make -music out of desert-grass winding it in curious fashion to resemble -a horn, and calling it <i>Masoor</i>. In Yemen and Nejd a -sling, like David’s, with pebbles from the brook is a lad’s first<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_267"></a>267</span> -weapon. Afterward he acquires a lance and perhaps an old -discarded bowie-knife. The children of the desert have no -books.<a id="FNanchor_95" href="#Footnote_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> But, of paper, they have the Book of Nature. This -magnificent picture book is never more diligently studied than -by those little dark eyes which watch the sheep at pasture or -count the stars in the blue abyss from their perch on a lofty -camel’s saddle in the midnight journeyings.</p> - -<p>When the Bedouin lad grows up, and begins to swear by the -few straggling hairs on his chin, he cannot read a letter, but -he knows men and he knows the desert. The talk heard at -night around the Sheikh’s tent or the acacia-brush fireside is -much like the wisdom of the book of Job. A philosophy of -submission to the world as it is; a deification of stoicism or -patience; a profound trust that all will end well at last. Sad -to say even the little nomads, with their ignorance of all religion, -share in the fanatical antagonism of their elders toward -the Christian religion and Christians. One of their games, in -Nejd, is to draw a cross on the desert sand and then defile it; -they learn that all outside the pale of Mohammed’s creed are -<i>kafirs</i> and to please Allah are glad to throw stones at any wayfaring -Nasrani. Little do the Bedouins and still less do their -children, however, know of the religion of Islam. The Koran -is not a book for children’s minds and of such is not the kingdom -of Mohammed.</p> - -<p>The Bedouin child early puts away childish things. To -western eyes the children of Arabia appear like little old men -and women; and the grown-up people have minds like children. -This is another paradox of the Arab-character. At ten -years the boy is sent to drive camels and the girl to herd -sheep; at fifteen they are both on the way to matrimony. He -wears the garb of a man and boasts a matchlock; she takes to -spinning camel hair and sings the songs of the past. Their -brief childhood is over. In the towns marriage takes place<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_268"></a>268</span> -even earlier; and there are boys of eighteen who have already -divorced two wives.</p> - -<p>Among the Bedouins polygamy is not common nor is it -among the poorer Arabs of the towns. The marriage ceremony -among the Bedouins is as simple as it is long and complex -among the townsmen. After the negotiations which precede -the marriage contract, the bridegroom comes with a lamb -in his arms to the tent of the girl’s father and there cuts the -lamb’s throat before witnesses. As soon as the blood falls on -the ground the contract is sealed; feasting and dancing follow, -and at night the bride is conducted to the bridegroom’s tent -where he is awaiting her arrival. Dowrys are paid more generally -and more largely in the towns than in the desert. -Among certain Arab tribes a demand of money for the hand -of a bride would be deemed scandalous. From a western -standpoint the women of the Bedouin stand on a higher platform -of liberty and justice than those of the towns where the -Koran has done its work on one half of society to repress intellect -and degrade affection, and sensualize the sexual relation -to the last degree. On the other hand divorce is perhaps more -common among the Bedouins,<a id="FNanchor_96" href="#Footnote_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> than among the city Arabs. -Burckhardt met Arabs not yet forty-five years of age who were -known to have had above fifty wives. Concerning the marriage-contract -in the towns, the ceremony, the divorce proceedings, -and the methods by which that is made legal which even -the lax law of Islam condemns, the less said the better.</p> - -<p>On the position of women in Arabia we quote four unimpeachable -witnesses who have nothing in common save their -knowledge of the subject; there is truth on both sides where -they differ; where they agree there is no question of certainty -as to the fact.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Doughty</span>, the Christian explorer, whose volumes are a mine -of information says:<a id="FNanchor_97" href="#Footnote_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> “The female is of all animals the better,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_269"></a>269</span> -say the Arabians, save only in mankind. Upon the human -female the Semites cast all their blame. Hers is, they think, a -maleficent nature, and the Arabs complain that ‘she has seven -lives.’ The Arabs are contrary to womankind, upon whom -they would have God’s curse; some, they say, are poisoners -of husbands and there are many adulteresses.... The -<i>horma</i> [<i>i. e.</i>, woman] they would have under subjection; admitted -to an equality, the ineptitude of her evil nature will -break forth. They check her all day at home and let her -never be enfranchised from servitude. The veil and the jealous -lattice are rather of the obscene Mohammedan austerity in -the towns; among the mild tent-dwellers in the open wilderness -the housewives have a liberty as where all are kindred; -yet their hareem are now seen in the most Arabian tribes half-veiled.”</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Burckhardt</span>, the time-honored authority on things Arabian, -writes: “The Bedouins are jealous of their women, but do not -prevent them from laughing and talking with strangers. It -seldom happens that a Bedouin strikes his wife; if he does so -she calls loudly on her <i>wasy</i> or protector who pacifies the husband -and makes him listen to reason.... The wife and -daughters perform all the domestic business. They grind the -wheat in the handmill or pound it in the mortar; they prepare -the breakfast and dinner; knead and bake the bread; make -butter, fetch water, work at the loom, mend the tent-covering -and are, it must be owned, indefatigable. While the husband -or brother sits before the tent smoking his pipe.”</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lady Ann Blunt</span>, who travelled among the tribes of the -Euphrates valley with her husband, speaks thus from a -woman’s standpoint. “Of the Bedouin women a shorter description -will be enough. As girls they are pretty in a wild -picturesque way and almost always have cheerful, good-natured -faces. They are hard-working and hard-worked, doing all the -labor of the camp.... They live apart from the men -but are in no way shut up or put under restraint. In the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_270"></a>270</span> -morning they all go out to gather wood for the day, and -whenever we have met them so employed they have seemed -in the highest possible spirits.... In mental qualities -the women of the desert are far below the men, their range -of ideas being extremely limited. Some few of them, however, -get real influence over their husbands and even, through -them, over their tribes. In more than one Sheikh’s tent it -is in the woman’s half of it that the politics of the tribe are -settled.”</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Snouck Hurgronje</span>, the Dutch traveller who spent an entire -year (1884-85) in Mecca thus characterizes the position -of women in Arabian towns:<a id="FNanchor_98" href="#Footnote_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“What avail to the young maiden the songs of eulogy which -once in her life resound for her from the mouth of the singing-woman, -but which introduce her into a companionship by -which she, with her whole sex, is despised? Moslem literature, -it is true, exhibits isolated glimpses of a worthier estimation of -woman, but the later view, which comes more and more into -prevalence, is the only one which finds its expression in the -sacred traditions, which represent hell as full of women, and -refuse to acknowledge in the woman, apart from rare exceptions, -either reason or religion, in poems, which refer all the -evil in the world to the woman as its root; in proverbs, which -represent a careful education of girls as mere wastefulness. -Ultimately, therefore, there is only conceded to the woman the -fascinating charm with which Allah has endowed her, in order -to afford the man, now and then in his earthly existence, the -prelibation of the pleasures of Paradise, and to bear him children.”</p></div> - -<p>The poems which revile womankind, and of which the -Dutch traveller speaks, are legion. Here are two examples in -English translation from Burton:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_271"></a>271</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent6">“They said, marry!—I replied,—</div> - <div class="verse indent6">Far be it from me</div> - <div class="verse indent6">To take to my bosom a sackful of snakes.</div> - <div class="verse indent6">I am free why then become a slave?</div> - <div class="verse indent6">May Allah never bless womankind.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“They declare woman to be heaven to man;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I say, Allah, give me Jehannum, not this heaven.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Three kinds of dwellings are found in Arabia. There is the -<i>tent</i>, the date-palm hut, and the house built with mortar of -stone or mud-brick. The tent is distinctive, in a general sense, -of the interior and of Northern Arabia; the palm-hut of the -coast and of South Arabia; while houses of brick and mortar -exist in all the towns and cities. The evolution of the house -is from goats’-hair to matting, and from matting to mud-roof. -Each of these dwellings is called <i>beit</i>, “the place where one -spends the night.”</p> - -<p>The Bedouin tent<a id="FNanchor_99" href="#Footnote_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a> consists of nine poles, arranged in sets -of three and a wide, black goats’-hair covering so as to form -two parts; the men’s apartment being to the left of the entrance -and the women’s to the right, separated by a white -woollen carpet hanging from the ridge-pole. The posts are -about five to seven feet in height; the length of the tent is between -twenty and thirty feet, its depth at the most is ten feet. -The only furniture consists of cooking utensils, pack-saddles, -carpets, water-skins, wheat-bags and millstones.</p> - -<p>The date-palm hut is of different shapes. In Hejaz and -Yemen it is built like a huge beehive, circular and with a -pointed roof. In Eastern Arabia it consists of a square enclosure -with hip-roof generally steep and covered with matting -or thatch-work. At Bahrein the Arabs are very skillful in so -weaving the date-fronds together and tightening every crevice -that the huts keep out wind and rain-storms most successfully. -The average size date-hut can be built for twenty or thirty -Rupees (seven to ten dollars) and will last for several years.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_272"></a>272</span></p> - -<p>The stone-dwellings of Arabia are as different in architecture -and material as circumstance and taste can make them. In -Yemen large castle-like dwellings crown every mountain and -frown on every valley; stone is plentiful and the plan of architecture -inherits grace and strength from the older civilization -of the Himyarites. In Bagdad, Busrah and East Arabia Persian -architecture prevails, with arches, wind-towers, tracery -and the veranda-windows. While the architecture of Mecca -and Medina takes on its own peculiar type from the needs of -the pilgrimage. Generally speaking the Arabs build their -houses without windows to the street, and with an open court; -the harem-system dictates to the builder, even putting a high -parapet on the flat-roof against jealous eyes. Bleak walls without -ornament or pictures are also demanded by their surly religion. -All furniture is simple and commonplace; except -where the touch of western civilization has awakened a taste -for mirrors, marble-top tables and music-boxes.</p> - -<p>In dress there is also much variety in Arabia. Turkish influence -is seen in the Ottoman provinces and Indian-Persian in -Oman, Hassa and Bahrein. The Turkish <i>fez</i> and the <i>turban</i> -(which are not Arabian) are examples. The common dress of -the Bedouin is the type that underlies all varieties. It consists -of a coarse cotton shirt over which is worn the abba or wide -square mantle. The headdress is made with a square cloth, -folded across and fastened on the crown of the head by a -circlet of woollen-rope called an <i>‘akal</i>. The color of the garment -and its ornamentation depends on the locality; likewise -the belt and the weapons of the wearer. Sandals of all shapes -are used; shoes and boots on the coast indicate foreign influence. -The dress of the Bedouin woman is a wide cotton gown, -with open sides, generally of a dark blue color, and a cloth for -the head. The veil is of various shapes; in Oman it has the -typical Egyptian nose-piece with only the middle part of the -face concealed; in the Turkish provinces of East Arabia, thin -black cloth conceals all the features. Nose and earrings are<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_273"></a>273</span> -common. All Arab women also tattoo their hands and faces -as well as other parts of their bodies, dye with henna and use -antimony on their eyelashes for ornament.</p> - -<p>The staple foods of Arabia are bread, rice, ghee (or clarified -butter, which the Arabs call <i>semu</i>) milk, mutton and dates. -These are found everywhere and coffee is the universal beverage. -Other foods and fruits we have considered in our study -of the provinces. Tea is now widely used but was known -scarcely anywhere less than twenty years ago. Tobacco is -smoked in every village and the Bedouins also are passionately -fond of the weed; even the Wahabi religious prohibition did -not drive out desire for the universal narcotic. There is one -article of food we have left unmentioned, <i>locusts</i>. These are -quite a staple in the grocers’ shops of all the interior towns of -Arabia. They are prepared for eating by boiling in salt and -water, after which they are dried in the sun. They taste like -stale shrimps or dried herring. The coast-dwellers still live -largely on fish and in the days of Ptolemy they were called -<i>Ichthiophagoi</i>.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_274"></a>274</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XXVII">XXVII<br /> - -<small>ARABIAN ARTS AND SCIENCES</small></h2></div> - - -<p>Even Islam could not suppress the Arab’s love for music -nor diminish his regard for the great poets of “the days -of ignorance.” For be it known that, although one can buy -Austrian mouth-organs in the bazaar at Jiddah, and harmonicas -from Germany in the toy-shop at Hofhoof, music is generally -held by Moslems, even to-day, to be contrary to the teaching -of the prophet. Mafia relates that when he was walking with -Ibn Omar, and they heard the music of a pipe the latter put -his fingers into his ears and went another road. Asked why, -he said: “I was with the prophet, and when he heard the -noise of a musical pipe, he put his fingers into his ears; and -this happened when I was a child.” Thus it comes to pass -that by the iron law of tradition, more binding to the pious -Moslem ofttimes than the Koran itself, the Mohammedan world -considers music at least among the doubtful amusements for -true believers. And yet both before and after the advent of -the morose legislator, Arabia has had its music and song. But -music in Mohammedan lands is ever in spite of their religion, -and is never, as is the case with Christianity, fostered by it.</p> - -<p>Among the ancient Arabs poetry and song were closely related. -The poet recited or chanted his own compositions in -the evening mejlis, or more frequently at the public fairs and -festivals, especially the national one held annually at Okatz. -Here it was that the seven noble fragments still extant of their -earliest literature were first read and applauded, and accounted -worthy (if this part of the story be not fabulous) to be suspended, -written in gold, in the Kaaba.</p> - -<p>It is unfortunate that the Arabs, with all their wealth of lan<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_275"></a>275</span>guage -and literature, have no musical notation, so that we can -only surmise what their ancient tunes may have been. Were -the early war songs of Omar and Khalid sung in the same key -as this modern war chant of the Gomussa tribe, as interpreted -by Lady Ann Blunt?</p> - - -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-275" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-275.jpg" alt="Music scores" /> -</div> - -<p>And did Sinbad the sailor sing the same tune on his voyages -down the Persian Gulf to India which now the Lingah boatmen -lustily chant as they land the cargo from a British India -steamer? Or was it like this sailors’ song on the Red Sea? -To both of these questions the only answer is the unchangeableness -of the Orient; and this puts the probability, at least, -so far that the sailors of to-day could easily join in Sinbad’s -chorus.</p> - -<p>The people of Jauf, in Northern Arabia, are most famous -for music at the present day, according to Burckhardt. They -are especially adept at playing the <i>Rebaba</i>. This may well be -considered the national instrument of music. It is all but -universal in every part of the peninsula, and as well-known to -all Arabs as the bag pipe is to the Scotch. I have heard the -highland shepherd boys of Yemen play on a set of reed-pipes -rudely fastened together with bits of leather thong. The drum -<i>tabl</i>, is common among the town Arabs, and is used at their -marriage and circumcision feasts; but all over the desert one -only hears the rebaba. It is simplicity itself in its construction, -when made by the Bedouins; the finer ornamental ones -are from the cities. A box frame is made ready, a stick is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_276"></a>276</span> -thrust through, and in this they pierce an eye-hole for a single -peg; a kidskin is then stretched upon the hollow box; the -string is plucked from a mare’s tail, and setting under it a bent -twig for the bridge, their music is ready.</p> - -<p>Time and measure are often very peculiar and hard to catch, -but they are kept most accurately, and Ali Bey gives an example -which he says, “exhibits the singularity of a bar divided -into five equal portions, a thing which J.J. Rousseau -conceived to be practicable, but was never able to accomplish.” -Here it is as he gives it; it strikingly resembles the boatmen’s -song at Bahrein:</p> - - -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-276" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-276.jpg" alt="Music score" /> -</div> - -<p>The singing one commonly hears, however, is much more -monotonous than this, and the tune nearly always depends on -the whim of the performer or singer, sometimes, alas, on his -inability to give more than a certain number of variations!</p> - -<p>Antar, one of their own poets, has said that the song of the -Arabs is like the hum of flies. A not inapt comparison to -those who have seen the “fly bazaar” in Hodeidah or Menamah -during the date season, and heard their myriad-mouthed -buzzing. Antar, however, lived in the “times of ignorance,” -and most probably referred to the chanting of the camel -drivers, which is bad enough. Imagine the following sung in -a high monotonous key with endless repetition.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ya Rub sallimhum min el tahdeed</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Wa ija’ad kawaihum ’amd hadeed.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>That is to say, being freely interpreted:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh Lord, keep them from all dangers that pass</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And make their long legs pillars of brass.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_277"></a>277</span></p> -<p>To a stranger that which seems most peculiar in Arab song -is their long drawn-out tones at the close of a bar or refrain, -sometimes equivalent to three whole notes or any number of -beats. Doughty did not appreciate it, apparently, for he -writes “Some, to make the stranger cheer, chanted to the -hoarse chord of the Arab viol, making to themselves music -like David, and drawing out the voice in the nose to a demensurate -length, which must move our yawning or laughter.” -There are, however, singers and singers. I remember a ruddy -Yemen lad who sang us <i>kasidahs</i> during a heavy rain-storm -in an old Arab café near Ibb. The singer was master of his -well-worn rebaba, and its music seemed to overmaster him. -Now his hand touched the strings gently, and then again swept -over them with a strong nervous motion, awakening music -indeed. His voice, too, was clear and sweet, although I was -not enough versed in Arabic poetry to catch the full meaning -of his words. It may have been the surroundings or the -jovial companionship of friendly Arabs after my Taiz seclusion -and a weary journey up the mountain passes, but I have never -heard sweeter music in Arabia, and have often heard worse -elsewhere. God bless that travelling troubadour of Yemen!</p> - -<p>Here is a Mecca song for female voices, as given by Ali -Bey in his travels (1815), and a second sung by the women of -Hejaz in a more monotonous strain:</p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-277" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-277.jpg" alt="music score" /> -</div> - -<p>Such songs are called <i>asamer</i>; love-songs are called -<i>hodjeiny</i>, and the war song is known as <i>hadou</i>. Arabic prosody -and the science of metres is exceedingly extensive and -seemingly difficult. What we call rhyme is scarcely known, -and yet every verse ends with the same syllable in a stanza of -poetry.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_278"></a>278</span></p> - -<p>In Mecca as well as in other “religious” centres there is a -sort of sacred-music of which Hurgronje gives several specimens. -They are chants in honor of the prophet or prayers for -him which are sung at the <i>Moleeds</i> or festivals in memory of -Mohammed. Here are two of them.</p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-278a1" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-278a1.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">{Sal la ’llah a la Mu-hammad</div> - <div class="verse indent0">{Pray for mo-ham-med, O God,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sal-la ’llah ’a-laih-wa-sal-lam</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pray, O God, for him and peace.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -</div></div> - - -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-278a2" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-278a2.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Mar-ha-ba-ya, nur-el ain-ni mar-ha-ba</div> - <div class="verse indent0">mar-ha-ba jid el Hu-sain-i mar-ha-ba</div> - <div class="verse indent0">mar-ha-ba ya mar-ha-ba-ya, mar-ha-ba-a-a-a-a.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -</div></div> - -<p>Most generally, however, music is looked upon as decidedly -secular, especially all instrumental music. The desert Arabs -know no religious song and only sing of love and war in their -old wild way. It is only at a distance from the mosque and -away with the caravan, that Ghanim clears his throat and sings -in a voice that can be heard for a mile as we leave him behind:</p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="illus-278b" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-278b.jpg" alt="Music score" /> -</div> - -<p>The Arabs of the desert have a reading-book all their own -called <i>Athar</i>; and a writing all their own called <i>wasm</i>. No -Bedouin so ignorant but he can read <i>Athar</i> and none so dull -but he can write his <i>wasm</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_279"></a>279</span></p> - -<p><i>Athr</i> or <i>ilm el athar</i> is the science of footsteps; and like -the free Indians of America, the Arab is keen to study and -quick to judge from sand tracks of both men and animals. -The genuine Arab who has made <i>athar</i> a study can tell the -track of a friend from that of a foe, and can distinguish the -tribe or even the clan; he knows from the depth of the footprint -whether the camel was loaded or lame; whether the man -passed yesterday or a week before; from the regularity or irreg<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_280"></a>280</span>ularity -he judges of fatigue or of pursuit. If the camel’s forefeet -dig deeper than the hind he concludes the animal had a -weak breast; from the offal he knows whence the camels came -and the character of their pasture. Burckhardt writes of instances -where camels were traced six days’ journeys after being -stolen, and identified.</p> - -<p><a id="TRIBAL_MARKS"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp65" id="illus-279" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-279.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">TRIBAL MARKS or WASMs of the ARABS.</div> -</div> - -<p>To identify property it must be marked, therefore, the kindred -science of <i>wasm</i> has its place. A <i>wasm</i> is a Bedouin -trade-mark or ideograph to label his property, real and personal. -Their origin is unknown, although Doughty says that they -ofttimes resemble Himyaritic letters and may therefore come -from Yemen. Each family or tribe has its own cattle-brand or -token. Not only is personal property such as cattle marked -with the <i>wasm</i> but the Bedouin put their mark on rocks near -favorite wells or pastures. These signs are the only certain -records of former occupation of tribes. Many of the tribes -have two or three different <i>wasms</i>; these belong to family -groups.</p> - -<p>The medical knowledge and medical treatment of the Arabs -deserve some notice. The Arabs think themselves always ailing -and never fail to consult a <i>hakim</i> or doctor when there is opportunity. -The hakeem is supposed to know both their malady -and its cure by simple observation; to tell the physician for -what cause they seek him would be an insult to his wisdom and -for him to ask them settles the matter that he is not a true -hakeem. The common diseases of Arabia are the following, -according to Arab nomenclature:—<i>El Kibd</i>, <i>i. e.</i>, the liver, or -all visceral infirmities; <i>er rihh</i>, literally, “the wind,” or -rheumatics and neuralgia; <i>humma</i>, fevers; <i>tahāl</i> or ague-cake; -<i>el-hasa</i> or stone; ophthalmia; “fascination” or hysterics, (as -when they say a man has a jinn or a child has been looked at -by the evil-eye); leprosy, phthisis, dropsy, stranguria, ulcers -and senile itch. For any and all of these ailments, beside -others not so common, yet sometimes epidemic like smallpox -and cholera, the Arabs seek a hakeem. All medicine, save<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_281"></a>281</span> -amulets, charms and exorcisms, is called <i>dawa</i>. Their pharmacopia -is not large but quite remarkable; in addition to such -simple herbs of the desert as their hareem collect and dry they -use in grave emergencies that which is harām (forbidden) and -unclean. Patients have come to me for a small piece of swine’s -flesh (which they suppose all Christians eat) to cure one in -desperate straits. Doughty tells how among the Bedouins they -give the sick to eat of the carrion-eagle and even seethe asses’ -dung for a potion.</p> - -<p><i>Kei</i> or actual cautery is a favorite cure for all sorts of diseases; -so also is <i>khelal</i> or perforating the skin surface with a -red-hot iron and then passing a thread through the hole to -facilitate suppuration. Scarcely one Arab in a hundred who -has not some <i>kei</i>-marks on his body; even infants are burned -most cruelly in this way to relieve diseases of childhood. -Where <i>kei</i> fails they have resource to words written on paper -either from the Koran, or, by law of contraries, words of evil, -sinister import. These the patient “takes” either by swallowing -them, paper and all, or by drinking the ink-water in -which the writing is washed off. Blood-letting is also a sovereign -remedy for many troubles. The Arab barber is at once -a phlebotomist, cauterizer, and dentist. His implements—one -can hardly call them instruments—are very crude and -he uses them with some skill but without any mercy. Going -to the proper place in any large Arab town you may always see -a row of men squatting down with bent back to be bled; -cupping and scarifying are the two methods most in vogue, -although some are quite clever in opening a vein. The science -of medicine in the towns is not much in advance of that of the -desert—more book-talk but even less natural intelligence. A -disease to be at all respectable must be connected with one of -the four temperaments or “humors of Hippocrates.”</p> - -<p>Medicines are hot and cold, wet and dry; and the same -fourfold classification distinguishes all ailments. There are -four elements only, and the stars must be favorable to induce<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_282"></a>282</span> -a rapid cure. Whatever is prescribed must be solid and material; -if it is bitter and painful so much the better. Rough -measures act more strongly on the imagination and faith-cure is -a reality in such cases. Burton gives this sample of a correct -prescription:</p> - -<p class="pcntr">“A.”<a id="FNanchor_100" href="#Footnote_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a></p> - -<p>“In the name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful, and -blessings and peace be upon our Lord the apostle and his -family and his companions one and all. But afterward let -him take bees-honey and cinnamon and album græcum of -each half a part and of ginger a whole part, which let him -pound and mix with the honey and form boluses, each bolus -the weight of a Mithkal, and of it let him use every day a -Mithkal, on the saliva, (that is to say, fasting, the first thing -in the morning). Verily its effects are wonderful. And let -him abstain from flesh, fish, vegetables, sweetmeats, flatulent -food, acids of all descriptions, as well as the major ablution and -live in perfect quiet. So shall he be cured by the help of the -King the healer, <i>i. e.</i>, the Almighty. And the peace.”</p></div> - -<p>Honey has always been a panacea in Arabia on authority of -the Koran and tradition. The only reference to medicine in -the revelation of Mohammed is this ignorant statement: -“From the bee’s belly comes forth a fluid of variant hue -which yieldeth medicine to man.” (Surah xvi. 71.) This being -the only remedy prescribed by Allah, it is no wonder that -tradition affirms its efficacy as follows: “A man once came -to Mohammed and told him that his brother was afflicted with -a violent pain in his belly; upon which the prophet bade him -give him some honey. The fellow took his advice but soon -came again and said that the medicine had done no good. -Mohammed answered: ‘Go and give him more honey, for -God speaks truth and thy brother’s belly lies,’ and the dose being -repeated the man was cured.”<a id="FNanchor_101" href="#Footnote_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a> Coriander-seeds, pepper<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_283"></a>283</span>mint, -cinnamon, senna, iris-root, saffron, aloes, nitrates, arsenious-earth, -pomegranate-rind, date-syrup and vinegar—such -are some of the common household remedies of Arabia. All -Arab women profess a knowledge of herbs and the art of healing -so that the “hakeem” can scarcely make a living if he -clings solely to his profession. A Mecca “M.D.,” says Hurgronje, -was also watch-maker, gun-smith and distiller of perfume; -to fill up his idle hours he did a little silver-plating and -dealt in old coins! Yet this man was at the head of the profession -in Mecca and was able, so they said, to transmute the -base metals and write very powerful charms.</p> - -<p>The following are used as amulets in Arabia: a small Koran -suspended from the shoulder; a chapter written on paper and -folded in a leather case; some names of God or their numerical -values; the names of the prophet and his companions; greenstones -without inscriptions; beads, old coins, teeth, holy earth -in small bags. Amulets are not only worn by the Arabs themselves -and to protect their children from the evil-eye but are -put on camels, donkeys, horses, fishing-boats and sometimes -over the doors of their dwellings. The Arabs are very superstitious -in every way. In Hejaz if a child is very ill the mother -takes seven flat loaves of bread and puts them under its pillow; -in the morning the loaves are given to the dogs—and the child -is not always cured. Rings are worn against the influence of -evil-spirits; incense or even-smelling compounds are burned in -the sick-room to drive away the devil; mystic symbols are -written on the walls for a similar purpose. Love-philtres are -everywhere used and in demand; and nameless absurdities are -committed to insure successful child-birth. The child-witch, -called <i>Um-el subyan</i>, is feared by all mothers; narcotics are -used freely to quiet unruly infants and, naturally, mortality is -very large. Of surgery and midwifery the Arabs as a rule are -totally ignorant and if their medical-treatment is purely ridiculous -their surgery is piteously cruel, although never intentionally -so. In all eastern Arabia <i>blind</i> women are preferred as mid<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_284"></a>284</span>wives, -and rock-salt is used by them against puerpural hemmorrhage. -Gunshot-wounds are treated in Bahrein by a poultice -of dates, onions and tamarind; and the accident is guarded -against in the future by wearing a “lead-amulet.”</p> - -<p>There are many other superstitions in no way connected with -the treatment of the sick. Tree-worship and stone-worship still -exist in many parts of Arabia in spite of the so-called “pure -monotheism” of Islam. Both of these forms of worship date -back to the time of idolatry and remain as they were partly by -the sanction of Mohammed himself, for did he not make a -black-pebble in the Kaaba, the centre of his system of prayer? -Sacred trees are called <i>Manahil</i>, places where angels or jinn -descend; no leaf of such trees may be plucked and they are -honored with sacrifices of shreds of flesh, while they look gay -with bits of calico and beads which every worshipper hangs on -the shrine. Just outside of the Mecca gate at Jiddah stands -one of these rag-trees with its crowd of pilgrims; in Yemen they -are found by every wayside.<a id="FNanchor_102" href="#Footnote_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a></p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_285"></a>285</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XXVIII">XXVIII<br /> - -<small>THE STAR-WORSHIPPERS OF MESOPOTAMIA</small> -<a id="FNanchor_103" href="#Footnote_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a></h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“In a remote period of antiquity Sabeanism was diffused over Asia by -the science of the Chaldeans and the arms of the Assyrians. They adored -the seven gods or angels who directed the course of the seven planets and -shed their irresistible influence on the earth.... They prayed thrice -each day, and the temple of the moon at Haran was the term of their -pilgrimage.”—<i>Gibbon.</i></p></div> - - -<p>In the towns along the lower Euphrates and Tigris, especially -at Amara, Suk es Shiukh, Busrah and Mohammerah, there -dwell an interesting people, variously known as Sabeans, Nasorians, -or St. John Christians. They call themselves Mandæans, -and though numbering only four or five thousand, they are -and have always been entirely distinct from the Jews, Moslems -and Christians among whom they have dwelt for centuries. -Their origin is lost in obscurity although the few scholars who -have studied the subject trace their history through the maze of -their religion to ancient Babylonia and Chaldea. In this remnant -of a race and religion we seem to have an example of the -oldest form of idolatry, Star-worship, and many of their mysterious -customs may throw a side-light upon the cult of ancient -Babylonia. Mandæism is not only of deep interest as “the -only existing religion compounded of Christian, heathen and -Jewish elements,”<a id="FNanchor_104" href="#Footnote_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a> but it affords another proof of the early -spread of religious ideas in the East, and the Babylonian origin -of much that is supposed to be Alexandrian Gnosticism in a -semi-Christian, semi-pagan garb.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_286"></a>286</span></p> - -<p>In the English Bible the name <i>Sabeans</i> is perplexing, and -although used of three different tribes or peoples, none of these -are any way related to the present Mandæans unless those -mentioned in Job. Sabean is also the term used in the Koran, -where it undoubtedly applies to the people and proves that -when Islam arose their numbers and settlements were far from -unimportant. The Koran recognizes them as distinct from -idolaters, and places them with Jews and Christians as people -of the book.<a id="FNanchor_105" href="#Footnote_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a> From this it is evident that the Sabeans could -not have been, as some allege, a minor Christian sect or identical -with the Hemero-Baptists. Although giving special -honor to John the Baptist, <i>they can in no sense be called Christians</i>.</p> - -<p>Isolated by a creed, cult and language of their own, the -Sabeans<a id="FNanchor_106" href="#Footnote_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a> love their isolation and do not intermarry with strangers -nor accept a proselyte to their faith. Nearly all of them -follow one of three trades. They raise the finest dairy produce -of Mesopotamia; they build a peculiar kind of light canoe, -called <i>Mashhoof</i>, and all others are silver-smiths. No traveller -should visit their villages without carrying away specimens of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_287"></a>287</span> -their beautiful inlaid-work, black metal on silver and gold. A -peaceful people they are, industrious, though mostly poor and -seldom affording trouble to their Turkish rulers. Both men -and women have a remarkably fine physique; tall, of dark -complexion, good features, and with long black beards, some -of the men are typical patriarchs, even as we imagine Abraham -who left their present country for Haran. On ordinary days -their dress does not distinguish them from Moslems or Jews, -but on feast days they wear only white. Their women go about -unveiled; they are rather taller and have a more masculine cast -of features than Moslem women.</p> - -<p class="pcntr"><i>Specimens of</i> <span class="smcap"><a id="Mandaitic_Cursive-Script"></a>Mandâitic Cursive-Script</span> <i>with transliteration -and translation</i>.</p> -<div class="figcenter illowp88" id="illus-287" style="max-width: 53.125em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-287.jpg" alt="Mandâitic Cursive-Script" /> -<div class="caption"> -<ul> -<li>Àssooda hāvilak = peace be to you.</li> - -<li>kethkŭm skawee = how much is it?</li> - -<li>ana libba kabeelak = I love you much.</li> - -<li>kasbah we dahwah = silver and gold.</li> - -<li>hofshaba rabba = great day (Sunday)</li> - -<li>atran hofshaba = Monday.</li> - -<li>aklatha = Tuesday.</li> - -<li>arba = Wednesday</li> - -<li>hamsha = Thursday.</li> - -<li>shitta = Friday.</li> - -<li>shuvah = Saturday.</li> -</ul> -</div></div> - -<p>The two great things that distinguish the Sabeans are their -language and their religion. Both are remarkable. The for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_288"></a>288</span>mer -because of its long preservation among a dying people, and -the latter as the most remarkable example of religious syncretism.</p> - -<p>Naturally the bazaar-talk of all the river-country is Arabic; -all Sabeans speak it and a goodly proportion read and write it; -but beside this they have a household language of their own, -the language of their sacred books, which is called Mandâitic. -It is so closely related to Syriac that it might almost be called a -dialect, yet it has an alphabet and grammar of its own, and -their writing and speech is not fully intelligible to the Syriac-speaking -Christians from Mosul. Wright says that their alphabet -characters most resemble the Nabathean and their language -that of the Babylonian Talmud.<a id="FNanchor_107" href="#Footnote_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a> One peculiarity is the -naming of the letters with the ā vowel and not as in other -Semitic languages by special names. The oldest manuscripts -of the Mandâitic date from the sixteenth century, and are in -European Libraries (Paris and Oxford). But according to -Nöldeke the golden period of their literature, when their religious -books received their final and present form, was 650-900 -<span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> At present few can read or write their language, -although all can speak it, and from religious motives they refuse -to teach those outside of their faith even the first lesson, except -secretly.</p> - -<p>Although meeting Sabeans for years and being their guest on -frequent journeys up and down the rivers, I could find no satisfactory -answer to the question what their real faith and cult -were. The popular story that they turn to the North Star when -they pray and “baptise” every Sunday was all that Moslems -or Christians could tell. Books of travel gave fragmentary, -conflicting and often grossly erroneous statements. According<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_289"></a>289</span> -to some accounts they were idolaters, others classed them with -Christians. An anonymous article in the London <i>Standard</i>, -Oct. 19, 1894, entitled, “A prayer meeting of the Star-worshippers,” -curiously gave me the key to open the lock of their -silence. Whoever wrote it must have been perfectly acquainted -with their religious ceremonies, for when I translated it to a -company of Sabeans at Amara they were dumbfounded. -Knowing that I knew <i>something</i> made it easy for them to tell -me more. The article referred to was in part as follows:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“It happens to be the festival of the Star-worshippers celebrated -on the last day of the year and known as the <i>Kanshio -Zahlo</i>, or day of renunciation. This is the eve of the new -year, the great watch-night of the sect, when the annual prayer-meeting -is held and a solemn sacrifice made to Avather Ramo, -the Judge of the under world, and Ptahiel, his colleague; and -the white-robed figures we observe down by the riverside are -those of members of the sect making the needful preparations -for the prayer-meeting and its attendant ceremonies.</p> - -<p>“First, they have to erect their <i>Mishkna</i>, their tabernacle or -outdoor temple; for the sect has, strange to say, no permanent -house of worship or meeting-place, but raise one previous to -their festival and only just in time for the celebration. And -this is what they are now busy doing within a few yards of the -water, as we ride into the place. The elders, in charge of a -<i>shkando</i>, or deacon, who directs them, are gathering bundles -of long reeds and wattles, which they weave quickly and deftly -into a sort of basket work. An oblong space is marked out -about sixteen feet long and twelve broad by stouter reeds, which -are driven firmly into the ground close together, and then tied -with strong cord. To these the squares of woven reeds and -wattles are securely attached, forming the outer containing -walls of the tabernacle. The side walls run from north to -south, and are not more than seven feet high. Two windows, -or rather openings for windows, are left east and west, and -space for a door is made on the southern side, so that the priest<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_290"></a>290</span> -when entering the edifice has the North Star, the great object -of their adoration, immediately facing him. An altar of beaten -earth is raised in the centre of the reed-encircled enclosure, -and the interstices of the walls well daubed with clay and soft -earth, which speedily hardens. On one side of the altar is -placed a little furnace of dark earthenware, and on the other a -little handmill, such as is generally used in the East for grinding -meal, together with a small quantity of charcoal. Close -to the southern wall, a circular basin is now excavated in the -ground, about eight feet across, and from the river a short -canal or channel is dug leading to it. Into this the water flows -from the stream, and soon fills the little reservoir to the brim. -Two tiny cabins or huts, made also of reeds and wickerwork, -each just large enough to hold a single person, are then roughly -put together, one by the side of the basin of water, the other -at the further extremity of the southern wall, beyond the entrance. -The second of these cabins or huts is sacred to the -<i>Ganzivro</i> or high priest of the Star-worshippers, and no layman -is ever allowed to even so much as touch the walls with -his hands after it is built and placed in position. The doorway -and window openings of the edifice are now hung with -white curtains; and long before midnight, the hour at which -the prayer-meeting commences, the little <i>Mishkna</i>, or tabernacle -open to the sky, is finished and ready for the solemnity.</p> - -<p>“Toward midnight the Star-worshippers, men and women, -come slowly down to the <i>Mishkna</i> by the riverside. Each, -as he or she arrives, enters the tiny wattled hut by the southern -wall, disrobes, and bathes in the little circular reservoir, the -<i>tarmido</i>, or priest, standing by and pronouncing over each the -formula, ‘<i>Eshmo d’haï, Eshmo d’manda haï madhkar elakh</i>’ -(‘The name of the living one, the name of the living word, -be remembered upon thee’). On emerging from the water, -each one robes him or herself in the <i>rasta</i>, the ceremonial -white garments peculiar to the Star-worshippers, consisting of -a <i>sadro</i>, a long white shirt reaching to the ground; a <i>nassifo</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_291"></a>291</span> -or stole round the neck falling to the knees; a <i>hiniamo</i>, or -girdle of woollen material; a <i>gabooa</i>, square headpiece, reaching -to the eyebrows; a <i>shalooal</i>, or white over-mantle; and -a <i>kanzolo</i>, or turban, wound round the <i>gabooa</i> headpiece, of -which one end is left hanging down over the shoulder. Peculiar -sanctity attaches to the <i>rasta</i>, for the garments composing -it are those in which every Star-worshipper is buried, -and in which he believes he will appear for judgment before -Avather in the nether world <i>Materotho</i>. Each one, as soon -as he is thus attired, crosses to the open space in front of -the door of the tabernacle, and seats himself upon the ground -there, saluting those present with the customary <i>Sood Havilakh</i>, -‘Blessing be with thee,’ and receiving in return the usual -reply, <i>Assootah d’haï havilakh</i>, ‘Blessing of the living one -be with thee.’</p> - -<p>“The numbers increase as the hour of the ceremonial comes -nearer, and by midnight there are some twenty rows of these -white-robed figures, men and women, ranked in orderly array -facing the <i>Mishkna</i>, and awaiting in silent expectation the -coming of the priests. A couple of <i>tarmidos</i>, lamp in hand, -guard the entry to the tabernacle, and keep their eyes fixed -upon the pointers of the Great Bear in the sky above. As -soon as these attain the position indicating midnight, the priests -give a signal by waving the lamps they hold, and in a few moments -the clergy of the sect march down in procession. In -front are four of the <i>shkandos</i>, young deacons, attired in the -<i>rasta</i>, with the addition of a silk cap, or <i>tagha</i>, under the -turban, to indicate their rank. Following these come four -<i>tarmidos</i>, ordained priests who have undergone the baptism of -the dead. Each wears a gold ring on the little finger of the -right hand, and carries a tau-shaped cross of olive wood to -show his standing. Behind the <i>tarmidos</i> comes the spiritual -head of the sect, the <i>Ganzivro</i>, a priest elected by his colleagues -who has made complete renunciation of the world and -is regarded as one dead and in the realms of the blessed. He<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_292"></a>292</span> -is escorted by four other deacons. One holds aloft the large -wooden tau-cross, known as <i>derashvod zivo</i>, that symbolizes his -religious office; a second bears the sacred scriptures of the -Star-worshippers, the <i>Sidra Rabba</i>, “the great Order,” two-thirds -of which form the liturgy of the living and one-third the -ritual of the dead. The third of the deacons carries two live -pigeons in a cage, and the last a measure of barley and of -sesame seeds.</p> - -<p>“The procession marches through the ranks of the seated -worshippers, who bend and kiss the garments of the <i>Ganzivro</i> as -he passes near them. The <i>tarmidos</i> guarding the entrance to -the tabernacle draw back the hanging over the doorway and -the priests file in, the deacons and <i>tarmidos</i> to right and left, -leaving the <i>Ganzivro</i> standing alone in the centre, in front of -the earthen altar facing the North Star, Polaris. The sacred -book <i>Sidra Rabba</i> is laid upon the altar folded back where the -liturgy of the living is divided from the ritual of the dead. -The high priest takes one of the live pigeons handed to him -by a <i>shkando</i>, extends his hands toward the Polar Star upon -which he fixes his eyes, and lets the bird fly, calling aloud, -‘<i>Bshmo d’haï rabba mshabbah zivo kadmaya Elaha Edmen -Nafshi Eprah</i>,’ ‘In the name of the living one, blessed be -the primitive light, the ancient light, the Divinity self-created.’ -The words, clearly enunciated within, are distinctly heard by -the worshippers without, and with one accord the white-robed -figures rise from their places and prostrate themselves upon the -ground toward the North Star, on which they have silently -been gazing.</p> - -<p>“Noiselessly the worshippers resume their seated position on -the ground outside. Within the <i>Mishkna</i>, or tabernacle, the -<i>Ganzivro</i> steps on one side, and his place is immediately taken -by the senior priest, a <i>tarmido</i>, who opens the <i>Sidra Rabba</i> -before him on the altar and begins to read the <i>Shomhotto</i>, -‘confession’ of the sect, in a modulated chant, his voice -rising and falling as he reads, and ever and anon terminating<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_293"></a>293</span> -in a loud and swelling <i>Mshobbo havi eshmakhyo Manda d’haï</i>, -‘Blessed be thy name, O source of life,’ which the congregants -without take up and repeat with bowed heads, their -hands covering their eyes.</p> - -<p>“While the reading is in progress two other priests turn, and -prepare the <i>Peto elayat</i>, or high mystery, as they term their -Communion. One kindles a charcoal fire in the earthenware -stove by the side of the altar, and the other grinds small some of -the barley brought by the deacon. He then expresses some oil -from the sesame seed, and, mixing the barley meal and oil, -prepares a mass of dough which he kneads and separates into -small cakes the size of a two-shilling piece. These are quickly -thrust into or on the oven and baked, the chanting of the -liturgy of the <i>Shomhotto</i> still proceeding with its steady sing-song -and response, <i>Mshobbo havi eshmakhyo</i>, from outside. -The fourth of the <i>tarmidos</i> now takes the pigeon left in the -cage from the <i>shkando</i>, or deacon, standing near him, and cuts -its throat quickly with a very sharp knife, taking care that no -blood is lost. The little cakes are then brought to him by his -colleague, and, still holding the dying pigeon, he strains its -neck over them in such a way that four drops fall on each one -so as to form the sacred <i>tau</i>, or cross. Amid the continued -reading of the liturgy, the cakes are carried round to the worshippers -outside by the two principal priests who prepared -them, who themselves pop them direct into the mouths of the -members, with the words ‘<i>Rshimot bereshm d’haï</i>,’ ‘Marked -be thou with the mark of the living one.’ The four deacons -inside the <i>Mishkna</i> walk round to the rear of the altar and -dig a little hole, in which the body of the dead pigeon is then -buried.</p> - -<p>“The chanting of the confession is now closed by the officiating -<i>tarmido</i>, and the high priest, the <i>Ganzivro</i>, resuming his -former place in front of the Sacred Book, begins the recitation -of the <i>Massakhto</i>, or ‘renunciation’ of the dead, ever directing -his prayers toward the North Star, on which the gaze of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_294"></a>294</span> -the worshippers outside continues fixed throughout the whole -of the ceremonial observances and prayers. This star is the -<i>Olma d’noora</i>, literally ‘the world of light,’ the primitive -sun of the Star-worshippers’ theogony, the paradise of the elect, -and the abode of the pious hereafter. For three hours the -reading of the ‘renunciation’ by the high priest continues, -interrupted only, ever and anon, by the <i>Mshobbo havi eshmakhyo</i>, -‘Blessed be thy name,’ of the participants seated outside, -until, toward dawn, a loud and ringing <i>Ano asborlakh ano -asborli ya Avather</i>, ‘I mind me of thee, mind thou of me O -Avather,’ comes from the mouth of the priest, and signalizes -the termination of the prayers.</p> - -<p>“Before the North Star fades in the pale ashen grey of approaching -dawn, a sheep, penned over night near the river, is -led into the tabernacle by one of the four <i>shkandos</i> for sacrifice -to Avather and his companion deity, Ptahiel. It is a -wether, for the Star-worshippers never kill ewes, or eat their -flesh when killed. The animal is laid upon some reeds, its -head west and its tail east, the <i>Ganzivro</i> behind it facing the -Star. He first pours water over his hands, then over his feet, -the water being brought to him by a deacon. One of the <i>tarmidos</i> -takes up a position at his elbow and places his hand on -the <i>Ganzivro’s</i> shoulder, saying <i>Ana shaddakh</i>, ‘I bear witness.’ -The high priest bends toward the North Star, draws a -sharp knife from his left side, and, reciting the formula, ‘In -the name of Alaha, Ptahiel created thee, Hibel Sivo permitted -thee, and it is I who slay thee,’ cuts the sheep’s throat from -ear to ear, and allows the blood to escape on to the matted -reeds upon which the animal is stretched out. The four deacons -go outside, wash their hands and feet, then flay the sheep, -and cut it into as many portions as there are communicants -outside. The pieces are now distributed among the worshippers, -the priests leave the tabernacle in the same order as they -came, and with a parting benediction from the <i>Ganzivro</i>, <i>Assootad -d’hai havilakh</i>, ‘The benison of the living one attend<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_295"></a>295</span> -thee,’ the prayer-meeting terminates, and the Star-worshippers -quietly return to their homes before the crimson sun has time -to peep above the horizon.”</p></div> - -<p>What a mosaic of ceremonies and what a mixed cult in this -river-bank prayer-meeting! The Sabeans of Amara tell me that -every minute particular is correctly described, and yet themselves -do not furnish the clew to the maze. Here one sees -Judaism, Islam and Christianity, as it were engrafted on one -old Chaldean trunk. Gnosticism, star-worship, baptisms, love-feast, -sacrifice, ornithomancy and what not in one confusion. -The pigeon sacrifice closely corresponds outwardly to that of -the Mosaic law concerning the cleansing of a leper and his -belongings and is perhaps borrowed from that source.<a id="FNanchor_108" href="#Footnote_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a> But -how Anti-Jewish is the partaking of blood and the star-worship.<a id="FNanchor_109" href="#Footnote_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a> -The cross of blood seems a Christian element, as does also the -communion of bread, but from a New Testament standpoint -this is in discord with all that precedes.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless a complete system of dogma lies behind this -curious cult and one can never understand the latter without -the former. Sabeanism is <i>a book religion</i>; and it has such a -mass of sacred literature that few have ever had the patience to -examine even a part of it. The <i>Sidra Rabba</i>, or Great Book, -holds the first place. The copy I examined contains over five -hundred large quarto pages of text divided into two parts, a -“right” and a “left hand” testament; they begin at different -ends of the book and they are bound together so that when -one reads the “<i>right</i>,” the “<i>left</i>” testament is upside-down. -The other name for the Great Book is <i>Ginza</i>, Treasure. It is -from this treasure-house that we chiefly gather the elements of -their cosmogony and mythology.<a id="FNanchor_110" href="#Footnote_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_296"></a>296</span></p> - -<p>First of all things was Pera Rabba the great Abyss. With -him “Shining ether” and the Spirit of Glory (<i>Mana Rabba</i>) -form a primal triad, similar to the Gnostic and ancient Accadian -triads. Kessler goes so far as to say that it is the same. -From Mana Raba who is the king of light, emanates <i>Yardana -Rabba</i>, the great Jordan. (This is an element of Gnosticism) -Mana Rabba called into being the first of the æons, Primal Life, -or <i>Hayye kadema</i>. This is really the chief deity of the Sabeans, -and all their prayers begin by invoking him. From him again -proceed secondary emanations, <i>Yushamim</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, Jah of heaven) -and <i>Manda Hayye</i>, messenger of life. This latter is the mediator -of their system, and from him all those that accept his mediation -are called <i>Mandäee</i>. Yushamim was punished for attempting -to raise himself above Primal Light, and now rules the world -of inferior light. Manda still “rests in the bosom of Primal -light” (<i>cf.</i> John i. 18), and had a series of incarnations beginning -with Abel (Hibil) and ending with John the Baptist! -Besides all these there is yet a third life called ’<i>Ateeka</i>, who -created the bodies of Adam and Eve, but could not give them -spirit or make them stand upright. If the Babylonian trinity -or triad has its counterpart in the Mandäen <i>Pera</i>, <i>Ayar</i> and -<i>Mana Rabba</i>, then <i>Manda Hayye</i> is clearly nothing but the -old Babylonian Marduk (Merodach), firstborn, mediator and -redeemer. <i>Hibil</i>, the first incarnation of Manda, also has a -contest with darkness in the underworld even as Marduk with -the dragon Tiamat.</p> - -<p>The Sabean underworld has its score of rulers, among others -these rank first: <i>Zartay</i>, <i>Zartanay</i>, <i>Hag</i>, <i>Mag</i>, <i>Gaf</i>, <i>Gafan</i>, -<i>Anatan</i> and <i>Kin</i>, with hells and vestibules in plenteous con<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_297"></a>297</span>fusion. -Hibil descends here, and from the fourth vestibule -carries away the female devil <i>Ruha</i> the daughter of Kin. This -Ruha, Kessler affirms, is really an anti-Christian parody of -the Holy Spirit, but from conversation with the Sabeans -I cannot believe this to be true. By her own son <i>Ur</i> -Ruha becomes the mother of all the planets and signs of the -zodiac. These are the source and controllers of all evil in the -world and must therefore be propitiated. But the sky and -fixed stars are pure and clear, the abode of Light. The -central sun is the Polar Star, with jewelled crown standing before -the door of Abathūr, or “father of the splendors.” -These “splendors,” æons, or primary manifestations of deity, -are said to number three hundred and sixty, (a Semitic way of -expressing many), with names borrowed from the Parsee -angelology (Zoroastrianism). The Mandæans consider all the -Old Testament saints except Abel and Seth false prophets -(Gnosticism).<a id="FNanchor_111" href="#Footnote_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a> True religion was professed by the ancient -Egyptians, who, they say, were their ancestors. Another false -prophet was <i>Yishu Mashiha</i> (Jesus Christ), who was in fact -an incarnation of the planet Mercury. John the Baptist, -<i>Yahya</i>, appeared forty-two years before Christ and was -really an incarnation of Manda as was Hibil. He baptized -at Jordan, and, by mistake also administered the rite to -Jesus.</p> - -<p>About 200 <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span>, they say, there came into the world 60,000 -saints from Pharaoh’s host and took the place of the Mandæans -who had been extirpated. Is not this a possible allusion -to the spread of the Gnostic heresy and the coalescence -of certain Gnostics with the then Sabean community? They -say that their high priest then had his residence at Damascus;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_298"></a>298</span> -that is, their centre of religion was between Alexandria and -Antioch, the two schools of Gnosticism.</p> - -<p>Mohammed, according to their system, was the last false -prophet, but he was divinely kept from harming them, and -they flourished to such an extent that at the time of the Abbasides -they had four hundred centres of worship in Babylonia.</p> - -<p>The Mandæan priesthood has three grades; <i>tarmida</i> or -<i>ta’amida</i> (“disciple” or “baptism”), <i>shkanda</i> (“deacons”), -and the <i>Ganzivra</i> (“high priest,” literally the keeper of the -Ginza or Great Book). The late Ganzivra was Sheikh Yahya, -a man of parts and well-versed in their literature, who long -lived at Suk-es-Shiukh. Their present high priest is called -Sheikh Sahn and was at one time imprisoned at Busrah on -charge of fomenting a rebellion of the Arab tribes near Kurna -at the junction of the Tigris and Euphrates.</p> - -<p>The Sabeans observe six great feasts beside their weekly -sabbath (Sunday). One of the feasts celebrates the victory of -Abel in the world of darkness, another the drowning of -Pharaoh’s army, but the chief feast, <i>Pantsha</i>, is one of Baptism. -It is observed in summer, and all Sabeans are obliged -to be baptized by sprinkling three times a day for five days. -The regular Sunday baptisms by immersion in running water -are largely voluntary and meritorious: these latter correspond -to the Moslem laws of purifications and take place after touching -a dead body, the birth of a child, marriage, etc.</p> - -<p>The moral code of the Sabeans is that of the Old Testament -in nearly every particular. Polygamy is allowed to the extent -of five wives, and is even recommended in the Sidra Rabba -but is seldom indulged in. They do not circumcise; this is -important, proving that they are not of Arab origin. They -have no holy places or churches except those we have described -which are built for a single night on the riverside.</p> - -<p>The story that they go on pilgrimage to Haran<a id="FNanchor_112" href="#Footnote_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a> and visit -the Pyramids as the tomb of Seth<a id="FNanchor_113" href="#Footnote_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a> is apparently a myth. They<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_299"></a>299</span> -are friendly to Christians of all sects and love to give the impression -that because they honor the Baptist they are more -closely related to us than are the Jews and Moslems. Of -course they deny that they do not accept Jesus as a true -Prophet, as they do all those other articles of their belief, -which they deem wisest or safest to keep concealed.</p> - -<p>All our investigations end as we began, by finding that the -Sabeans “worship that which they know not,” and profess a -creed whose origin is hidden from them and whose elements, -gathered from the four corners of the earth, are as diverse as -they are incongruous. Who is able to classify these elements -or among so much heterogeneous <i>débris</i> dig down to the original -foundations of the structure? If we could, would we not, -as in so many other cases, come back to Babylonia and the -monuments?</p> - -<p><a id="Sacred_Book_of_the_Mandaeans"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowe50" id="illus-299"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-299.jpg" alt="Uncaptioned scripr" /> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_300"></a>300</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XXIX">XXIX<br /> - -<small>EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN ARABIA</small></h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“And some fell among thorns.”—<i>Matthew</i> xiii. 7.</p> - -<p>“But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the -wheat and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up and brought -forth fruit then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the house-holder -came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy -field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy -hath done this.”—<i>Matthew</i> xiii. 25-28.</p></div> - - -<p>It is recorded in the Acts of the apostles that Arabians, -or Arabian proselytes, were present at the Jewish feast of -Pentecost. We must therefore go back to Apostolic times to -find the beginnings of Christianity in Arabia. Whether these -Arabians were from the northern part of the peninsula bordering -on Syria, from the dominions of the Arabian king Hareth -(Aretas), or came as Jewish proselytes from distant Jewish colonies -of Yemen, must ever remain uncertain. In any case -they doubtless carried back to their homes something of the -Pentecostal message or blessing. The New Testament references -to Arabia are not disconnected and unique, but stand in -closest relation to the whole Old Testament revelation of God’s -dealings with Ishmael and his descendants.</p> - -<p>In Paul’s letter to the Galatians,<a id="FNanchor_114" href="#Footnote_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a> he writes, “Neither went -I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but -I went to Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.” What -did the great apostle to the Gentiles do in Arabia? A consideration -of this question will give us a better standpoint to -review the later rise of Christianity not only in North Arabia,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_301"></a>301</span> -but in Nejran and Yemen. “A veil of thick darkness,” says -Lightfoot, “hangs over St. Paul’s visit to Arabia.” The particular -part of Arabia visited, the length of his stay, the motive -of his going, the route taken and what he did there,—all is left -untold. We can draw the map and tell the story of all but the -first great journey of the apostle. Certainly the first journey -of the new Saul of Tarsus cannot have been without some great -purpose. The probable length of his stay, which is by some -put at only six months, but which may have been two years,<a id="FNanchor_115" href="#Footnote_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a> -would also indicate some importance in the event.</p> - -<p>Visions and revelations to this Elijah and Moses of the new -dispensation there may have been while he tarried in the desert, -but it is scarcely probable to suppose that at this critical -juncture in early church history so long a time should have -been occupied with these only. Therefore, we find the earliest -commentators of the opinion that Paul’s visit to Arabia was his -first missionary journey, and that he “conferred not with flesh -and blood,” but went into Arabia to preach the gospel.<a id="FNanchor_116" href="#Footnote_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a> “See -how fervent was his soul,” says Chrysostom, “he was eager to -occupy lands yet untilled, he forthwith attacked a barbarous -and savage people, choosing a life of conflict and much toil.” -The idea that Paul went to preach immediately after his conversion -is natural; and that he should, as the Gentile apostle, -seek first that race which was also a son of Abraham and heir -of many Old Testament promises and whose representatives -were present at Pentecost, is not improbable.</p> - -<p>But if Paul went to Arabia and preached the gospel, where -and to whom did he go? A certain reply to these questions is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_302"></a>302</span> -unattainable since revelation is silent, but (1) The place was -most probably the Sinaitic peninsula, or the region east of Sinai -(Rawlinson). (2) There is more than one reason to hold -with Jerome and later writers that he went to a tribe where his -mission was unsuccessful as regards visible results. (3) The -only people of the desert then, as now, were Arab Bedouin, -and of the probability that Paul also knew their life and customs, -Robertson Smith gives a curious illustration in an allusion -to Galations vi. 17, when speaking of tattoo marks in religion.<a id="FNanchor_117" href="#Footnote_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a></p> - -<p>Now was there an Arab tribe in the days of Paul, in the region -southwest of Damascus, to whom a missionary came with -a new and strange message which was not favorably received, -and yet whom and whose message those Arabs could not forget?</p> - -<p>We find a curious legend taken up with other nomad débris -into the maelstrom of Mohammed’s mutterings that may help -to answer the question. It is about the Nebi Salih or “good -prophet,” who came to the people of Thamud,<a id="FNanchor_118" href="#Footnote_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a> and whose -person and mission is as much a mystery to Moslem commentators -as Paul’s visit to Arabia is to us. European critics suggest -his identity with Shelah of Genesis xi. 13! but etymology -and chronology both afford the most meagre basis. Palmer offers -a theory that Nebi Salih is none other than the “righteous -prophet” Moses;<a id="FNanchor_119" href="#Footnote_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a> but the difficulty is that this puts the -legend too far back in history. It is not probable that the -people of Thamud “hewed out mountains into houses,” such -as are found to-day as early as in the days of Moses. Nor does -Old Testament indicate a time when Moses went to Arabs with -a Divine message. Moreover, the legend is evidently a <i>local</i> -one that came to the knowledge of Mohammed, or it would -have been better known to him who borrowed so largely from -the former prophets; and if it is a <i>local</i> legend, it is not a -legend of Moses, for he is mentioned more than seventy-seven<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_303"></a>303</span> -times in the Koran, and his story was well known in Arabia, -at least as far as Yemen.</p> - -<p>The pith of the legend underlies the bark; what says the -Koran? Nebi Salih came as a “brother,”<a id="FNanchor_120" href="#Footnote_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a> and said, “O, -my people, worship God. Ye have no God but Him.<a id="FNanchor_121" href="#Footnote_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a> There -has come to you an evident sign from your Lord.<a id="FNanchor_122" href="#Footnote_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a> ... -And remember how He made you vice-regents after ’Ad, and -stablished you in the earth ... and remember the benefits -of God.<a id="FNanchor_123" href="#Footnote_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a> Said the chiefs of those who were big with pride -<i>from amongst his people</i> (Pharisees or Jews from Damascus?) -to those who believed amongst them: Do ye know that Salih -is sent from his Lord? (<i>i. e.</i>, his Lord is not your true God). -They said, We do believe in that with which He is sent, -(gospel?) “Said those who were big with pride, Verily, in -what ye do believe we disbelieve.” The passage is again -significant: “And he turned away from them (back to Damascus?) -and said, O, my people, I did preach unto you the message -of my Lord,<a id="FNanchor_124" href="#Footnote_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a> and I gave you good advice, but ye love not -sincere advisers.” Does not this story have points of contact -with what might have been the experiences of a man like Paul -among such a people?</p> - -<p>The fact that there is a so-called tomb of Nebi Salih at El -Watiyeh (Palmer) does not weigh much for or against any -theory as to the identity of the prophet. Arabia has tombs of -Job on the Upper Euphrates, of Eve at Jiddah, of Cain at -Aden, and of other “prophets” where there is a demand for -it. But it is interesting to learn from the learned author of -<i>The Desert of the Exodus</i>: “The origin and history of Nebi -Salih is quite unknown to the present Bedouin inhabitants, but -they nevertheless regard him with more national veneration -than even Moses himself.” If revered more than Moses, -why not was he later than Moses—greater than Moses—even -<i>Saul of Tarsus</i>? Whether this theory be only far-fetched or<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_304"></a>304</span> -whether it has confirmation in the early spread of Christianity -in North Arabia the sequel may show.</p> - -<p>Historical Christianity in Arabia had two centres, so that the -study of its early rise and progress takes us first to the tribes -furthest north, in the kingdoms of Hirah and Ghassan and then -to fertile Yemen and Nejran.</p> - -<p>Despite the growth of the Roman Empire eastward in the -days of Pompey, the Arabs of Syria and Palmyra retained their -independence and resisted all encroachment. Under Odenathus -the Palmyrene kingdom flourished, and reached the zenith of -its power under his wife and successor, the celebrated Zenobia. -She was defeated by Aurelian, and Palmyra and its dependencies -became a province of the Roman Empire. It is natural therefore -to expect that Christianity was introduced into this region -at an early period. Such was the case. Agbarus, so celebrated -in the annals of the early church, was a prince of the -territory of Edessa and Christianity had made some progress in -the desert in the time of Arnobius.<a id="FNanchor_125" href="#Footnote_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a> Bishops of Bostra, in -Northwest Arabia (not to be confounded with Busrah), are -mentioned as having been present at the Nicene council (325 -<span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span>) with five other Arabian bishops.<a id="FNanchor_126" href="#Footnote_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a> The Arabian historians -speak of the tribe of Ghassan as attached to the Christian faith -centuries before the Hegira. It was of this tribe that the -proverb became current: “They were lords in the days of ignorance -and stars of Islam.” They held sway over the desert -east of Palestine and of Southern Syria. The name of Mavia -or Muaviah is mentioned by ecclesiastical writers as an Arab -queen who was converted to the faith and in consequence -formed an alliance with the emperor and accepted a Christian -Bishop, named Moses, ordained by the primate of Alexandria. -Her conversion took place about <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> 372. Thus we find -that the progress of Christianity increased in proportion as the -Arabs became more intimately connected with the Romans.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_305"></a>305</span></p> - -<p>An unfortunate circumstance for the progress of Christianity -in North Arabia was its location between the rival powers of -Rome and Persia. It was a sort of buffer-state and suffered -from both sides. The Persian monarchs persecuted the -Christian Arabs and one of their Arab allies, a pagan, called -Naaman, forbade all intercourse with Christians, on the part -of his subjects. This edict we are told<a id="FNanchor_127" href="#Footnote_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a> was occasioned by -the success of the example and preaching of Simeon Stylites, -the pillar saint, celebrated in Tennyson’s picture-poem. This -desert-friar who was himself an Arab by birth, was a preacher -after the heart of the stern, austere, half-starved Bedouin. His -fame spread even into far-off Arabia Felix.<a id="FNanchor_128" href="#Footnote_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a> The stern edict -of Naaman was withdrawn, however, and he himself was only -prevented from embracing the faith by his fear of the Persian -king.</p> - -<p>Among the first monks to preach to the nomad tribes was -Euthymius who seems to have been a medical missionary working -miracles of healing among the ignorant Bedouins. One of -the converted Arabs, Aspebetus, took the name of Peter, was -“consecrated” by Juvenal, patriarch of Jerusalem, and became -the first bishop of the tribes in the neighborhood of -Southern Palestine.</p> - -<p>The progress or even the existence of Christianity in the -kingdom of Hirah seems to have been always uncertain as it -was dependent on the favor of the Khosroes of Persia. Some -of the Arabs at Hirah and Kufa were Christian as early as 380 -<span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> One of the early converts, Noman abu Kamus, proved -the sincerity of his faith by melting down a golden statue of -the Arabian Venus, worshipped by his tribe, and by distributing -the proceeds among the poor. Many of the tribe followed -his example and were baptized.<a id="FNanchor_129" href="#Footnote_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a> To understand the im<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_306"></a>306</span>portance -of this spread of Christianity in North Arabia we -must remember that this was the age of caravans and not of -navigation. Palmyra, the centre of the trade from the Persian -Gulf, owed its importance and power to the trans-Arabian traffic -with Persia and the East. Irak and Mesopotamia were then -a part of Arabia and were ruled by Arabian dynasties.</p> - -<p>It was in Southwestern Arabia, however, that Christianity exerted -even greater power and made still larger conquests. We -cannot but wish that the story of its success, trials and extinction -had been given us in some purer form with more of the gospel -and less of ecclesiasticism. Had that early Christianity been -gold instead of glitter it would not have perished so easily in the -furnace of persecution or disappeared so utterly before the -tornado-blast of Islam.</p> - -<p>The picture of the Christian church of this period (323-692 -<span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span>) as drawn by faithful historians is dark indeed. “More -and more the church became assimilated and conformed to the -world, church discipline grew lax, and moral decay made rapid -progress. Passionate contentions, quarrels and schisms among -bishops and clergy filled also public life with party-strife, animosity -and bitterness. The immorality of the court poisoned -the capital and the provinces. Savagery and licentiousness -grew rampant.... Hypocrisy and bigotry took the place -of piety among those who strove after something higher, while -the masses consoled themselves with the reflection that every -man could not be a monk.... The shady side of this -period is dark enough but a bright side and noble personages -of deep piety, moral earnestness, resolute denial of self and the -world are certainly not wanting.”<a id="FNanchor_130" href="#Footnote_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a> Not only was religious life -at a low level in all parts of christendom but heresies were -continually springing up to disturb the peace or to introduce -gigantic errors. Arabia was at one time called “the mother -of heresies.” The most flagrant example was that of the Collyridians, -in the fourth century, which consisted in a heathen<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_307"></a>307</span>ish -distortion of mariolatry. Cakes were offered to the Holy -Virgin, as in heathen times to Ceres.</p> - -<p>At what time Christianity was first introduced into Arabia -Felix is uncertain. This part of Arabia was in a measure shut -off from the world of the Romans until the expedition of Ælius -Gallus. Before the coming of Christianity the Yemenites were -either idolaters or Sabeans. The large numbers of Jews in -Yemen was an additional obstacle to the early spread of the -faith as they were always bitterly hostile to the missionaries. -The legend that St. Bartholomew preached in Yemen on his -way to India need not be considered; nor the more probable -one of Frumentius and his success as first bishop to Himyar. -In the reign of Constantius, Theophilus, the deacon of Nicomedia, -a zealous Arian, was sent by the emperor to attend a -magnificent embassy to the court of Himyar and is said to have -prevailed on the Arabian king to embrace Christianity. He -built three churches in different parts of Yemen, at Zaphar, -Aden and Sana, as well as at Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. No -less than four bishoprics were established and the tribes of Rabia -Ghassan, and Kodaa were won to the faith. Ibn Khalikan, the -Arabian historian, enumerates as Christian tribes, the Bahrah, -Tanoukh and Taglab. In Nejran, north of Sana, and Yathrib -there were also Christians.</p> - -<p>Arabian idolatry was very tolerant and afforded throughout -the third and fourth centuries an equally safe asylum to the -persecuted Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians who settled in -various parts of the Peninsula. The kings of Himyar were -themselves idolaters but allowed every other sect great freedom, -including the Christians. But no sooner did the followers of -Judaism gain power than persecution began. About the year -560, Dzu Nowass, ruler of Himyar, revolted against his lord -the Abyssinian king, Elesbaan, and, instigated by the Jews, -began to persecute the Christians. All who refused to renounce -their faith were put to death without respect of age or sex, and -the villages of Nejran were given over to plunder. Large pits<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_308"></a>308</span> -were dug, filled with fuel, and many thousands of monks and -virgins were committed to the flames.</p> - -<p>Speedy punishment, however, overtook Dzu Nowass when -the Abyssinian hosts invaded Yemen. The Christian conquerors -avenged the massacre on its perpetrators, the Jews, -with heathen fury. The whole fertile tract was once more a -scene of bloodshed and devastation. The churches built before -the days of Dzu Nowass were again rebuilt on the site of their -ruins and new bishops were appointed in place of the martyrs. -A short, though desperate, civil war, resulting in the proclamation -of Abraha as king of Yemen, did not disturb the steady -growth of Christianity. Paying tribute only to the Abyssinian -crown, and at peace with all the Arab tribes, Abraha was loved -for his justice and moderation by all his subjects and idolized -by the Christians for his burning zeal in their religion. Large -numbers of Jews, convinced by a public dispute and a miracle -at Dhafar, were baptized. Many idolaters were added to the -church; new schemes of benevolence were inaugurated; the -foundations were being laid for a magnificent cathedral at -Sana; in short Christian Yemen seemed at the dawn of its -Golden Age in the year 567 <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span></p> - -<p>What delayed its coming and how did the power of Abraha -lose its prestige? The story is gleaned from Moslem and -Christian writers; it is the last sad chapter in the short history -of early Christianity in Arabia and the preface to the chronicles -of Islam. So important is it considered that the synopsis of it -is embodied in the Koran for the perpetual delight of Moslems. -(Surah of the Elephant.)</p> - -<p>In the early fall of the year 568, the caravans of Arabs, which -came along the level road leading from Rhoda, bordered with -rich vineyards and fig-orchards, stopped, on entering Sana, because -of a crowd that stood gazing at a large piece of parchment -nailed on the side wall of the entrance to the city. It was a royal -proclamation written in large Himyaritic letters. A townsman -in the long dress of a public teacher stood before it and read<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_309"></a>309</span> -aloud to the motley crowd that paused as they came to morning -market from the neighboring villages. Stately camels, bearing -huge loads of dates, were urged by their drivers, who good-humoredly -exchanged greetings with their Christian brethren; -donkeys, nearly hidden between baskets of luscious grapes, -jostled a group of Jewish money-changers sitting in the gate; -a score of women, dark-eyed and in picturesque peasant dress, -were carrying their empty gerbies to the wells—but one and all -moved with curiosity, stood for a moment to listen.</p> - -<p>The presbyter, for such he was, read as follows:</p> - -<p>“I, Ibraha, by the grace of God and Jesus Christ our Saviour, -king of Yemen, taking counsel and advice of the good -Gregentius, bishop of Dhafar, and having completed the building -of the cathedral to the glory of God and in memory of our -victory over the idolaters, do now and hereby proclaim that all -the Arab tribes who annually visit the heathen shrine at -Mecca, are expected to cease going thither and to come with -their caravans of merchandise to worship the true God, on a -shorter and more convenient journey to our magnificent church -at Sana, the capital, on penalty of a levy to be put by me on -all caravans of tribes that refuse to obey this proclamation. -And be it furthermore known to all the tribes of Koreish....” -The reader was rudely interrupted by a party of -Bedouin who drove their dromedaries right through the gate -and up the street with such fury that some of the crowd barely -escaped being run over.</p> - -<p>“It is a troop of those accursed Kenanehs,” said Ibn Choza -to his companion. “They were born without manners—wild -asses of the desert.” “Yes,” answered the other; “and who -insult our good king with their nickname of El Ashram,—the -split nosed,—because of the scar that remains since his encounter -with the heathen Aryat.” “If such as these, Abood, -do not obey this latest order from our Christian king, we’ll try -the spears of my Modarites, and then woe betide their caravans -of semn and their fertile palms. Not all the three hundred<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_310"></a>310</span> -gods of the Kaabeh could save them from the righteous wrath -of Abraha.”</p> - -<p>The new cathedral, whose ruined foundations yet testify as -to its size and solidity, had been completed for some months, -and on the morrow the good bishop was expected from Dhafar -to preach to the crowds that thronged Yemen’s capital at the -feast. This year more strangers than ever before crowded the -markets; many were come, in obedience to the proclamation, -even from distant Yathrib and from beyond Nejran, to engage -in commerce and religion at once,—the universal custom of -the Arabs. The autumn rains were over and a fresh breeze -from Jebel Nokum increased the cold, felt by such strangers -especially, as came for the first time from the hot coast to an -elevation of 9,000 feet.</p> - -<p>Night fell on the towers and palaces of Sana, and there was -no light in the streets except that of stars shining with northern -brilliancy from between drifting clouds. Just before midnight, -a solitary Arab hurried along one of the narrow paths, too narrow -to be called a street, which led from the caravanseri to the -church. His face and form were wrapped in a long sheepskin -cloak, but his erect bearing, vigorous step, and the carved -silver handle of the curved dagger, half hidden in his belt, betrayed -one of the Kenaneh tribe. Stealthily looking around, -he stopped before one of the windows of the cathedral; lifted -himself to the granite ledge, dextrously used his dagger to remove -one of the large panes of talc-stone (still used in all Sana), -and jumped inside. He lingered only a few moments, came out -as he went in, and hurried off toward the way of the North gate.</p> - -<p>On the morrow a cry arose from the early worshippers, carried -on the lips of every Christian in Sana, till it echoed -through market and street: “<i>Abraha’s church has been defiled!</i> -Dung is on the altar, and the holy cross is smeared with ordure! -’Tis the work of the accursed Kenaneh—the signal of revolt -for the idolaters of the North!” There was tumult in Sana. -In vain Gregentius endeavored to quiet the populace by his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_311"></a>311</span> -eloquence. Adding fuel to the flame, came the news on the -same day of the defeat of the Modarites and the death of Ibn -Choza, whom the king had sent on an expedition to a rebellious -tribe in Wady Dauasir. Abraha’s wrath was doubly inflamed -by the profanation of his church and the death of his -captain. He publicly vowed to annihilate the idolatrous -Koreish, as well as the Kenaneh, and to demolish their temple -at Mecca. Before nightfall that vow was the rallying-cry in the -soldiers’ quarter and the toast in every Jewish wine shop of Sana.</p> - -<p>The expedition was soon on its way. Abraha rode foremost, -seated on his milk-white elephant, caparisoned with plates of -gold. On his head was a linen cap covered with gold embroidery, -and from which descended four chains. He wore a -loose tunic covered with pearls and Yemen akeek stone, over -his usual dress; while his muscular arms and short neck were -almost hidden with bracelets and chains of gold in the Abyssinian -pattern; for arms he had a shield and spears. After him -came a band of musicians, and then the nobles and warriors, -under command of the valiant Kais. Than him no better -leader could have been chosen. Mourning the untimely death -of his brother, Ibn Choza, slain by the treacherous arrow of -Orwa, he sought a personal revenge even more than the honor -of his religion and his king, and was prepared to risk all in -fulfillment of the expedition. The army, increased by volunteers -at every village on their route, by forced marches over -two hundred miles of mountain road, reached Jebel Orra, weary -and footsore. What is only a usual journey to the Bedouin of -the North, was a succession of hardships to the Yemen troops, -accustomed as they were to mountain air, plenty of water and -the rich fertility of their native valleys. No less did the herd -of elephants suffer from the fatigue of distance and the scarcity -of pasturage and water. Every day the advance was made -with increasing difficulty.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the Koreish had not been idle. Rumor never -runs faster than in the desert. All those who loved Mecca,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_312"></a>312</span> -that oldest historic centre of all Western Arabia, rallied to the -standard of the Koreish. It was the Kaaba, with its three -hundred and sixty idols, against the Cross. No sooner was -Abraha’s approach known, than Dzu Neffer, Ibn Habib and -other chiefs at the head of the tribes of Hamedan and Chethamah -gathered to oppose the advance. A desperate conflict -followed, but the camels were frightened at the sight of the -elephants, nor could the desert Arabs withstand an assault of -such large numbers.</p> - -<p>The news of defeat struck the Koreish with the greatest consternation, -and Abd-ul-Mutalib, grandfather of the future -prophet, who was guardian of the Kaaba, took council with all -the chiefs of the allies. A swift messenger was sent to Abraha -offering a third part of the wealth of all Hejaz as a ransom for -the sacred Beit Ullah. The king, however, was inflexible, and -his followers cried: “Vengeance for the desecrated Cross in -our sanctuary! No ransom from the idolaters! Down with -the Kaaba!” Finally Abd-ul-Mutalib himself came to seek -audience. He was admitted to Abraha’s presence and honored -with a seat by his side; but Arab tradition says he came only -to ask about the loss of some camels, and told Abraha that the -Lord of the Kaaba would defend it himself! (Such sublime -faith does Moslem tradition put into the mouth of the prophet’s -ancestors, even though the anachronism proves its falsehood.)</p> - -<p>On the following day Kais led the advance through the narrow -valley that leads into the city. Here a grievous surprise -awaited the host of The Elephant. To supplement the faith -of Abd-ul-Mutalib, the Arabs laid in ambush, and before day-dawn -every one of the Koreish had occupied his place on the -heights on either side of the pass, hidden behind the rough -masses of boulder and trap that to this day make the whole -hillside a natural battery. No sooner had the elephants and -their riders entered the defile, than a shower of rocks and -stones was incessantly poured upon them by their assailants. -The unwieldly animals, mad with fright and pain, trampled<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_313"></a>313</span> -the wounded to death, and confusion was followed by headlong -flight, although the unequal contest lasted until sunset. It was -the Thermopylæ of Arabian idolatry, forever after celebrated -in the Koran chapter of <i>The Elephant</i>. The battle affords a -miracle, however, to the Moslem commentator by the easy -change of a vowel, which makes “miraculous birds” with -hell-stones in their beaks God’s avengers, instead of the -“camel-troops” of the Koreish. Two months after the victory -that prophet was born whose character and career sealed the fate -of early Christianity in Arabia, already decided on the fatal day -when Abraha mounted his elephant and left Sana for revenge.</p> - -<p>The division of the Northern tribes between the Persians -and Romans, followed by the defeat of the Yemen hosts, -brought anarchy to all central Arabia. The idolaters of Hirah -and Ghassan overran the south, and the weak reign of Yeksoum, -son of Abraha, could not stay the decay of the Christian -state. Even the Persian protectorate only delayed its -final fall. The sudden rise of Islam, with its political and social -preponderance, consummated the blow. “With the death -of Mohammed,” says Wright, “the last sparks of Christianity -in Arabia were extinguished, and it may be reasonably doubted -whether any Christians were then left in the whole peninsula.”<a id="FNanchor_131" href="#Footnote_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a></p> - -<p>In 1888, Edward Glaser, the explorer, visited nearly every -part of Yemen and among his discoveries were many ancient -inscriptions. From Mareb, the old Sabean capital, he brought -back over three hundred, one of which dates from 542 <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span>, -and is considered by Professor Fritz Hommel the latest Sabean -inscription. It consists of one hundred and thirty-six lines -telling of the suppressed revolt against the Ethiopic rule then -established in Yemen. The inscription opens with the words: -“<span class="smcap">In the power of the All-merciful, and His Messiah -and the Holy Ghost</span>.” This and the scarcely recognizable -ruins of the cathedral at Sana are the only remnants of Christianity -that remain in Arabia Felix.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_314"></a>314</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XXX">XXX<br /> - -<small>THE DAWN OF MODERN ARABIAN MISSIONS</small></h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“It surely is not without a purpose that this widespread and powerful -race [the Arabs] has been kept these four thousand years, unsubdued and -undegenerate, preserving still the vigor and simplicity of its character. It -is certainly capable of a great future; and as certainly a great future lies -before it. In may be among the last peoples of Southwestern Asia to -yield to the transforming influences of Christianity and a Christian civilization. -But to those influences it will assuredly yield in the fullness of -time.”—<i>Edson L. Clark.</i></p> - -<p>“Every nation has its appointed time, and when their appointed time -comes they cannot keep it back an hour nor can they bring it on.”—<i>The -Koran.</i></p></div> - - -<p>Islam dates from 622 <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span>, but the first Christian missionary -to Mohammedans was Raymund Lull, who was -stoned to death outside the town of Bugia, North Africa, on -June 30, 1315. He was also the first and only Christian of -his day who felt the extent and urgency of the call to evangelize -the Mohammedan world. His constant argument with -Moslem teachers was: Islam is false and must die. His devotion -and his pure character coupled with such intense moral -earnestness won some converts, but his great central purpose -was to overthrow the power of Islam as a system by logical -demonstration of its error; in this he failed. His two spiritual -treatises are interesting, but his <i>Ars Major</i> would not convince -a Moslem to-day any more than it did in the fourteenth century. -His life is of romantic interest and his indefatigable -zeal will always be a model and an inspiration to missionaries<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_315"></a>315</span> -among Moslems.<a id="FNanchor_132" href="#Footnote_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a> But he lived before his time and his age -was unworthy of him.</p> - -<p>Nothing was done to give the gospel to Arabia or the Mohammedans -from the time of Raymund Lull to that of Henry -Martyn, the first modern missionary to the Mohammedans. -The histories of these two men contain all that there is to be -written about missionary work for the Mohammedan world -from 622 until 1812, so little did the Church of God feel its -responsibility toward the millions walking in darkness after the -false prophet.</p> - -<p>To the Protestant Church of the eighteenth century Arabia -and the Levant presented no attractions or appeal. The Turks, -as representing the Mohammedan world, were remembered as -early as 1549, it is true, by the English Book of Common -Prayer, in the collect for Good Friday,<a id="FNanchor_133" href="#Footnote_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a> (which dates from the -Sarum Missal). No effort was made, however, to carry the -gospel to them or to any part of their empire, until long after -other far more distant regions had been reached. Even Carey -did not have the Moslem world on his large program. It was -Claudius Buchanan who first aroused an interest in the needs -of the Moslem world. On his return from India he told, on -February 25, 1809, in his sermon at Bristol, the story of two -Moslem converts, one of whom had died a martyr to Christ.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_316"></a>316</span> -In his <i>Christian Researches</i> he propounds a comprehensive -scheme for the evangelization of the Levant. The Church -Missionary Society sent out missionaries, and in 1819 the -American Board began work for Moslems by sending Pliny -Fisk and Levi Parsons to Syria.</p> - -<p>This modern beginning of the gospel in Asia Minor had an -indirect bearing on the future evangelization of Arabia and -was a part of the Divine preparation. The journeys of Eli -Smith and H. G. O. Dwight brought the American churches -face to face with the whole problem of missions in that region. -The Syrian Mission through its press at Malta (1822) began -the assault on the citadel of Islam’s learning. In 1833 the -press was removed to Beirut; and from that day until now it -has been scattering leaves of healing throughout all the Arabic-speaking -world. When in 1865 Dr. Van Dyck wrote the last -sheet of “copy” of the Arabic Bible translation and handed -it to the compositor, he marked an era of importance not only -to Syria and Asia Minor, but to the whole of Arabia, greater -than any accession or deposition of sultans. That Bible made -modern missions to Arabia possible; it was the result of seventeen -years of labor; “and herein is that saying true, One soweth, -and another reapeth ... other men labored and ye are -entered into their labors.” Whatever special difficulties and -obstacles missionaries to Arabia have met or will meet, the -great work of preparing the Word of God in the language of -the people and a complete Christian literature for every department -of work, has already been accomplished by others; and -accomplished in such a way that the Arabic Bible of Beirut -will always be the Bible for Oman and Nejd and the most inland -villages of Yemen and Hadramaut.</p> - -<p>The history of direct effort to reach the great Arabian peninsula -begins with Henry Martyn. It is deeply interesting to -follow the gradual unfoldings of the Divine Providence in the -reintroduction of the gospel into Arabia thirteen centuries after -Christianity had been blotted out in that land by the sword of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_317"></a>317</span> -Mohammed and his successors. In more than one sense Henry -Martyn was the pioneer missionary to Arabia. He first came -into contact with the Arabs through his study of their language -and his employment of that remarkable character, Sabat, as -his munshee and co-worker. Sabat and his friend Abdullah -were two Arabs of notable pedigree, who, after visiting Mecca, -resolved to see the world. They first went to Cabul, where -Abdullah entered the service of the famous Ameer Zeman Shah. -Through the efforts of an Armenian Christian he abjured Islam -and had to flee for his life to Bokhara. “Sabat had preceded -him there and at once recognized him on the street. ‘I had -no pity,’ said Sabat afterward, ‘I delivered him up to Morad -Shah, the king.’ He was offered his life if he would abjure -Christ. He refused. Then one of his hands was cut off and -again he was pressed to recant. ‘He made no answer, but looked -up steadfastly toward heaven, like Stephen, the first martyr, -his eyes streaming with tears. He looked at me, but it was -with the countenance of forgiveness. His other hand was then -cut off. But he never changed, and when he bowed his head -to receive the blow of death all Bokhara seemed to say, What -new thing is this?’ Remorse drove Sabat to long wanderings, -in which he came to Madras, where the government gave him -the office of mufti or expounder of the law of Islam in the civil -courts. At Vizagapatam he fell in with a copy of the Arabic -New Testament as revised by Solomon Negri and sent out to -India in the middle of last century by the Society for Promoting -Christian Knowledge. He compared it with the Koran -and the truth fell on him like a flood of light. He -sought baptism in Madras at the hands of the Rev. Dr. Kerr -and was named Nathaniel. He was then twenty-seven years -of age. When the news reached his family in Arabia, his -brother set out to destroy him, and, disguised as an Asiatic, -wounded him with a dagger as he sat in his house at Vizagapatam. -He sent him home with letters and gifts to his mother, -and then gave himself up to propagate the truth he had once<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_318"></a>318</span> -in his friend Abdullah’s person, persecuted to the death.”<a id="FNanchor_134" href="#Footnote_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a> -These two were doubtless the first fruits of modern Arabia to -Christ.</p> - -<p>It was doubtless in a great degree Sabat who directed -Martyn’s thoughts and plans toward Arabia and the Arabs. -On the last day of the year 1810 he wrote in his diary: “I -now pass from India to Arabia, not knowing what things shall -befall me there.” His purpose in leaving India was partly his -broken health but more his intense longing to give the Mohammedans -of Arabia and Persia the word of God in their own -tongues. On his voyage from Calcutta to Bombay he composed -tracts in Arabic, spoke with the Arab sailors and studied -the Koran and Niebuhr’s travels in Arabia. From Bombay he -sailed for Arabia and Persia in one of the ships of the old -Indian navy going on a cruise in the Persian Gulf. He reached -Muscat on April 20, 1811, and writes his first impressions in a -letter to Lydia Grenfell: “I am now in Arabia Felix; to judge -from the aspect of the country it has little pretensions to the -name, unless burning, barren rocks convey an idea of felicity; -but as there is a promise in reserve for the sons of Joktan, their -land may one day be blessed indeed.” He attempted to go -inland for a short distance, but was forbidden by the soldiers of -the Sultan of Muscat.</p> - -<p>Every word of Henry Martyn’s journal regarding Arabia is -precious, but we can quote only one more passage: “April 24. -Went with one English party and two Armenians and an -Arab who served as guard and guide to see a remarkable pass -about a mile from the town and a garden planted by a Hindu -in a little village beyond. There was nothing to see, only the -little bit of green in this wilderness seemed to the Arab a great -curiosity. I conversed a good deal with him, but particularly -with his African slave, who was very intelligent about religion. -The latter knew as much about his religion as most mountaineers,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_319"></a>319</span> -and withal was so interested that he would not cease from his -argument till I left the shore.”</p> - -<p>Martyn did not tarry long at Muscat but his visit was “a -little bit of green in this wilderness” and the prayers he there -offered found answer in God’s Providence long afterward. On -all his voyage to Bushire he was continually busy with his -Arabic translation; the people of Arabia were still first in his -heart for he expresses himself as desirous finally “to go to -Arabia circuitously by way of Persia.” His longing to give -the Arabs the Scripture began in India and intensified his devotion -to the study of Hebrew. Had Martyn’s chief assistant -in the Arabic translating, Sabat, been a better scholar their -New Testament version would have proved abidingly useful. -As Sabat’s knowledge of the language proved very faulty their -Arabic Testament did not remain in use. It was first printed -at Calcutta in 1816, and although it accomplished a good work -in common with other old translations, all have been superseded -by the wonderfully perfect version of Eli Smith and Van Dyck. -It was not due to Martyn, however, that the Arabic language -had no worthy version of the Bible until 1860. In his diaries -for September 8 and 9, 1810, we read these remarkable entries: -“If my life is spared, there is no reason why the Arabic should -not be done in Arabia, and the Persian in Persia as well as the -Indian in India.” ... “Arabia shall hide me till I come -forth with an approved New Testament in Arabic.” ... -“Will government let me go away for three years before the -time of my furlough arrives? If not I must quit the service, -and I cannot devote my life to a more important work than that -of preparing the Arabic Bible.”</p> - -<p>These facts about Martyn’s life show at how many points it -touched Arabia; his purposes, his prayers, his studies, his -translations, his fellow-worker, and his visit to Muscat. But -more than all these was the result for Arabia of Martyn’s influence -and the power of his spirit to inspire others.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_320"></a>320</span></p> - -<p>In 1829 Anthony N. Groves, a dentist of Exeter, taking the -commands of Christ literally, sold all he had and, in the spirit -of Martyn, began his remarkable attempt at mission work in -Bagdad. His work was stopped twice, by the plague and by -persecution, and the story of his life reveals how great were the -obstacles which he vainly tried to surmount.<a id="FNanchor_135" href="#Footnote_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a> From that day -until long years after Northern and Eastern Arabia were waiting -once more for the light. The only effort made in the Gulf -was by Dr. John Wilson of Bombay who, before 1843, sent -Bible colporteurs once and again by Aden and up the Persian -Gulf; “he summoned the Church of Scotland to despatch a -mission to the Jews of Arabia, Busrah and Bombay. A missionary -was ready in the person of William Burns who afterward -went to China, the support of a missionary at Aden was -guaranteed by a friend and Wilson had found a volunteer ‘for -the purpose of exploring Arabia’ when the disruption of the -Church of Scotland arrested the movement.”<a id="FNanchor_136" href="#Footnote_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a> It was Henry -Martyn’s life that inspired John Wilson in 1824. It was the -Free Church of Scotland that afterward took up the work of -Ion Keith Falconer the pioneer of Yemen. So God’s plans -find fulfillment.<a id="FNanchor_137" href="#Footnote_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a> Even Muscat was not left without a witness -in those years of waiting. It appears that the captain of an -American ship which called at Muscat every year for a cargo -of dates was a godly man and used to distribute Arabic Bibles -and Testaments, even before the Bible Society extended its -work to this place.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_321"></a>321</span></p> - -<p>As early as 1878 the British and Foreign Bible Society sent -Anton Gibrail from Bombay to Bagdad on a colporteur-journey. -And about the same time the South Russia agent of the Society, -Mr. James Watt, visited Persia and Bagdad and pressed -the needs of this field on the committee of the Bible Society. -He was seconded in his efforts by Rev. Robert (now Canon) -Bruce, a Church Missionary Society Missionary in India. Arrangements -were made between the two societies by which Bible -work was opened in Bagdad under the supervision of Mr. Bruce. -In December, 1880, a Bible depot was opened. Since then the -work has gone on continuously and extended, through the -Arabian Mission, to the entire east coast of Arabia.</p> - -<p>The first reference to the needs and opportunities for work -in Western Arabia appears in the Annual Report of the British -Bible Society for 1886, where the opening of a Bible depot at -Aden is announced with the hope that it would lead to “the -circulation of the Holy Bible on a larger scale and in a variety -of languages.” Ibrahim Abd el Masih was the first in charge -of this depot, and his name was attached to the call for prayer -from South Arabia issued after the death of Keith Falconer. -Colporteurs from Egypt and from Aden of the British and -Foreign Bible Society have once and again visited the Arabian -Red Sea ports and penetrated to Sana, the capital of Yemen.</p> - -<p>Between the years 1880 and 1890 more than one appeal went -forth for Arabia’s need. Old Doctor Lansing of the American -U. P. Mission in Egypt who for over thirty years had labored -there waiting for the dawn of a brighter day, when he heard of -one of these appeals, was all on fire, to start for Yemen. “For -some years,” wrote an American minister in the far West, “I -and my people have been praying for Arabia.”</p> - -<p>The Wahabi reformation in its time attracted the interest -of those who studied the political horizon. The bombardment -of Jiddah in 1858 compelled attention to Mecca and the pilgrimage, -while from 1838, when England became mistress of -Aden, until 1880 commerce and exploration was specially ac<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_322"></a>322</span>tive -on all the Arabian coast. It was during this period that -the Anglo-Indian naval officers Morêsby, Haines, Elwon, -Saunders, Carless, Wellsted and Cruttenden carefully surveyed -the entire Arabian coast. What they did for commerce, -Major-General F. T. Haig did for missions in Arabia. He it -was who first made the extensive journey all around the coast -of Arabia and into the interior of Yemen. His articles pleading -for the occupation of the Peninsula reached Keith Falconer -and finally decided his choice of a particular field, in the wide -Mohammedan world, to which his thoughts were already turned. -It was also the experience and counsel of this man of God that -helped to determine the final location as well as the preliminary -explorations of the American missionaries of the Arabian mission -in 1890-92. The reports of General Haig are even to-day -the best condensed statement of the needs and opportunities in -the long neglected Peninsula while his account of the problems -to be met and the right sort of men to meet them will always -remain invaluable until the evangelization of Arabia is an accomplished -fact.</p> - -<p>In 1886 General Haig was asked by the committee of the -Church Missionary Society to undertake an exploration of the -Red Sea coast of Arabia and Somaliland with a view to ascertaining -the openings for missionary effort. He set out from -London on October 12th, 1886, reaching Alexandria on the -19th, and proceeded by way of the Red Sea coast in an Egyptian -steamer to Aden, calling at Tor, Yanbo, Jiddah, Suakin, -Massawa and Hodeidah. Dr. and Mrs. Harpur of the Church -Missionary Society were already at Aden seeking an opening -for mission work; the former accompanied General Haig back -to Hodeidah and occupied that place for a time as the first -<i>medical</i> missionary in Arabia. General Haig then took the -journey inland by the direct route to Sana with Ibrahim, the -British and Foreign Bible Society colporteur and from Sana -they went straight across Yemen to Aden. Shortly afterward -General Haig proceeded to Muscat and up the Persian Gulf<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_323"></a>323</span> -calling at all the ports. From Busrah he journeyed along the -river to Bagdad and thence across the Syrian desert by the overland -post route to Damascus. It was this long and difficult -journey which formed the basis of two papers<a id="FNanchor_138" href="#Footnote_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a> entitled: “On -both sides of the Red Sea,” and “Arabia as a Mission Field.”<a id="FNanchor_139" href="#Footnote_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a></p> - -<p>A few brief extracts from these papers will interest the -reader and show the character of this first appeal to evangelize -the land of the Arabs. Writing of Yemen he says; -“We have in this southwestern part of Arabia a great mountainous -country with a temperate climate, and a hardy laborious -race. This hill-country and its races extend northward -into Asir, eastward into Hadramaut for an indefinite distance, -while to the northeast they extend inland as far as the borders -of the great desert. The finest and most warlike races are -those to be found to the north and northeast of Sana. These -have never yet submitted to the Turkish yoke; in fact the -limits of the Turkish territory to the east of Sana are only a -few miles distant from that place. Is it not of extreme importance -in connection with the evangelization of all Southern -Arabia that the gospel should be preached and the Word of -God brought to these hardy mountaineers? They are mostly -Zeidiyeh, a sect akin to the Shiahs in doctrine, but I saw no -trace of fanaticism among them, rather they seemed everywhere -willing to listen to the truth. For the most part I suspect -they are but poor observers of the prescribed religious -practices of Islam. During the whole of my travels in Yemen -I never once saw a man at prayer, and in only a few of the -larger villages is there a mosque. The women are particularly -accessible; in the villages they wear no covering to the face, -and those that we met at the khans, or inns, were always ready -to come forward and talk. The little girls used frequently to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_324"></a>324</span> -run into our room, and, if invited, would come and sit down by -our side. Ignorance is, I should say, the predominant characteristic -of the whole population—ignorance of their own religion, -ignorance of the simplest elements of truth. I believe that -an evangelist, thoroughly master of the language, Arabic, -might go from village to village all over Yemen preaching, or -quietly <i>speaking</i> the gospel.”</p> - -<p>This testimony is true. But the challenge has never yet -been accepted and all the highlands are still waiting for the -first news of the gospel. Speaking of the capital of Yemen the -report goes on: “Sana is a most important point. <i>It is impossible -to exaggerate its importance from a missionary point -of view.</i> It is in the centre of the finest races of Southern -Arabia, and if a mission could be established there, its influence -would extend on all sides to a multitude of tribes otherwise -shut out from the gospel.”</p> - -<p>After reviewing in detail the open doors in every part of -Arabia, and speaking of the special obstacles at each point together -with the best methods of inaugurating work, he writes -toward the end of his report: “<i>In one degree or another then, -all Arabia is, I consider, open to the gospel.</i> It is as much -open to it as the world generally was in apostolic times, that is -to say, it is accessible to the evangelist at many different points, -at all of which he would find men and women needing salvation, -some of whom would receive his message, while others -would reject it and persecute him. In some parts of the country -he would not be molested or interfered with by the ruling -powers; in others, as in Turkish Arabia, he might be arrested -and even deported. Dangerous fanatics are, I believe, seldom -met with but occasionally the missionary might come across -such, and then the consequences might be more serious. But -what if his lot were even worse than this, if he were hunted -from village to village, and persecuted from city to city? Our -Lord contemplated no other reception for His disciples when -He sent them forth. This was in fact His ideal of the mission<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_325"></a>325</span>ary -life.... ‘When they persecute you in this city, -(abandon the country? No.) flee ye into another.’ The -evangelist in Arabia need expect nothing worse than this and -even this would probably be of rare occurrence.... -There is no difficulty then about preaching the gospel in -Arabia if men can be found to face the consequences. The -real difficulty would be the protection of the converts. Most -probably they would be exposed to violence and death. The -infant church might be a martyr church at first like that of -Uganda, but that would not prevent the spread of the truth or -its ultimate triumph.” The most remarkable thing about this -report, which occupies only forty pages, is its prophetic character, -its permanent value and the fact that it touches every -phase of the problem still before us.</p> - -<p>The immediate result of General Haig’s report was the determination -of the Church Missionary Society to leave Aden -and Sheikh Othman to Keith Falconer and the Free Church -of Scotland, while Dr. and Mrs. Harpur went to Hodeidah to -try the possibilities of work in that city. There the skill of a -Christian physician would have more of strategic power than -in Aden itself which had two hospitals under government -service. Everything was hopeful at the outset and the people -flocked in large numbers to the dispensary. Evangelistic -work was carried on, and Dr. Harpur wrote: “I try to read of -the birth, death and resurrection of Christ including Isaiah liii., -and the simplest parables.” One or two of the Arabs became -specially interested and read the Bible very eagerly. But the -Turkish governor found objection and required a Turkish -diploma from the missionary, or to have his diploma acknowledged -at Constantinople. Work was at a standstill. Dr. -Harpur was compelled to return to England on account of -severe illness and Hodeidah was not again entered. In his -letter to the <i>Church Missionary Intelligencer</i>, dated April 12th, -1887, we read:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_326"></a>326</span></p><div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Should the way be closed <i>now</i>, we trust that God will -open it in His own time, and whenever that time may be, I -want now to say that since I came here my great desire has -been, and will continue to be, that I might be allowed to live -and work among the people of Yemen. God knows best, -wherever our work may be. Owing to the uncertainty that -exists about my diplomas being ratified, and being in the -meantime effectually stopped from any work, it seems advisable -for us to go back to Aden, there to wait until we get directions -from the Committee, using the time there for the study of the language. -There is a door here, as far as the people themselves -are concerned, and I trust we may not have to leave these poor -people who have not rejected the gospel. What a cause there -is for prayer for them to Him who is King of Kings and Lord -of Lords.”</p></div> - -<p>About the same time, a remarkable call to prayer was sent -out by the little band of workers in South Arabia, who were -left to mourn the sudden death of their spiritual leader, Ion -Keith Falconer. It was the first call to prayer issued for -Arabia and it did not remain unheeded:</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Prayer for the Spread of the Gospel in South Arabia</span>.</p> - -<p>“We earnestly invite united intercession to Almighty God for -the people of this land, that He will open doors for the preaching -of the gospel, and prepare the hearts of all to receive it.</p> - -<p>We trust that many will respond to this request, and unite -with us in setting apart a special time every Tuesday for prayer -for the above object. We are, yours faithfully,</p> - -<table class="small" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdr" colspan="7">(Signed.) </td> -<td class="tdl">F. I. <span class="smcap">Harpur</span>, M. B.,</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">Church Missionary Society.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Alex. Paterson</span>, M. B. C. M.,</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">Free Church Mission.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Matthew Lochhead</span>,</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">Free Church Mission.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Ibrahim Abd El Messiah</span>,</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><i>Yemen, S. Arabia.</i></td> -<td class="tdr">B. and F. Bible Society.”</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_327"></a>327</span></p> - -<p>While the Church Missionary Society did not continue work -at Hodeidah, they were already occupying the extreme northeast -corner of Arabia and had begun work in Bagdad, the old -city of the caliphs, with its commanding situation on the Tigris, -and its large, Arab population. In 1882 Bagdad was occupied -as an outpost of their Persia Mission on recommendation -of Dr. Bruce. Rev. T. R. Hodgson was the first missionary -there, but he afterward went into the service of the British and -Foreign Bible Society and greatly extended its work in the Persian -Gulf. He was succeeded by Dr. Henry Martyn Sutton -and others. The mission has had hard struggles with the -Turkish officials and its converts were compelled to flee. The -medical work has had a vast and extensive influence in all the -region round about, and at present the mission-staff is larger -than ever before and the school recently opened is flourishing. -Mosul has been taken over from the American Presbyterian -Board by the Church Missionary Society, and in the words of -one of their missionaries, “we are watching for an opportunity -of carrying the gospel into the very heart of Central -Arabia, where the independent Prince of Nejd holds rule, -across whose territory runs one of the principal routes for -pilgrims to Mecca.”</p> - -<p>As early as 1856 Rev. A. Stern made missionary journeys to -Sana, Bagdad and other parts of Arabia to visit the Jews with -the gospel. That remarkable missionary to the Jews, Joseph -Wolff, the son of a Bavarian Rabbi and who was baptized by -a Benedictine monk in 1812, also visited the Jews of Yemen -and Bagdad in his wanderings.<a id="FNanchor_140" href="#Footnote_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a></p> - -<p>In 1884, Mr. William Lethaby, a Methodist lay-preacher -from England, with his faithful wife, began a mission among -the wild Arabs at Kerak in the mountains of Moab; so populous -and important is this mountain fortress in the eyes of the -nomads that they call it El Medina, “the city.” This pioneer<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_328"></a>328</span> -effort, after some years of struggle, was taken up by the Church -Missionary Society in connection with their Palestine mission. -Mr. Lethaby, after journeying in East Arabia, and attempting -in vain to cross the Peninsula from Bahrein westward (1892), -is now in charge of the Bible Society’s depot at Aden.</p> - -<p>As early as 1886 the North Africa Mission attempted to reach -the Bedouin tribes of Northern Arabia in the vicinity of Homs. -Mr. Samuel Van Tassel, a young Hollander, of New York, -trained at Grattan Guinness’ Institute, went out under their -direction and accompanied a Bedouin chief on his annual migration -into the desert in 1890. He found good opportunities -among the nomads for gospel-work, so that the door to him -seemed “wide-open,” but Turkish official jealousy of all foreigners -who have dealings with the Bedouin tribes, put an end -to his work and compelled its abandonment. His experiences, -however, as the first one who lived and worked for Christ -among the nomads in the black tents of Kedar is valuable for -the future. The door of access was not closed by the Bedouins -themselves, but by the Turks. Mr. Van Tassel found the -Arabs very friendly, and willing to hear the Bible read, especially -the Old Testament. He found none of the fanaticism of -the towns, and even persuaded the sheikhs to rest their caravans -on the Sabbath day. It is interesting to note that the -North Africa Mission was led to enter North Arabia through -the representations of General Haig, then one of their council. -At present they have no workers in Arabia, although that name -still finds a place in their reports every month with the pathetic -rehearsal:<a id="FNanchor_141" href="#Footnote_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a> “Northern Arabia is peopled by the Bedouin descendants -of Ishmael; they are not bigoted Moslems, like the -Syrians, but willing to be enlightened. This portion of the -field is sadly in need of laborers.”</p> - -<p>In 1898 the Christian and Missionary Alliance of New York<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_329"></a>329</span> -again called attention to the needs of Northern Arabia through -Mr. Forder, formerly of the Kerak mission. He attempted to -enter into the interior, by way of Damascus, but met with an -accident, which prevented the undertaking.</p> - -<p>Before sketching the lives of the two great pioneer missionaries -to Arabia, we must chronicle the appeal for the dark -peninsula that came from the heart of the Dark Continent. -Not only because this appeal belongs to the early dawn of -Arabian missions, but because of its remarkable character and -its author. Henry Martyn in 1811 wrote at Muscat, “there -is a promise in reserve for the sons of Joktan”; Alexander -Mackay, from Uganda in 1888, took up the strain, and, in -closing his long plea for a mission to the Arabs of Muscat, -wrote: “May it soon be said, ‘This day is salvation come to -this house forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham.’”</p> - -<p>This plea, written only two years before Mackay’s death, and -dated, August, 1888, Usambiro, Central Africa, is a great missionary -document for two reasons; it breathes the spirit of -Christianity in showing love to one’s enemies and it points out -the real remedy against the slave-trade. And yet Mackay accompanied -his carefully written article with this modest letter: -“I enclose a few lines on a subject which has been weighing -on my mind for some time. I shall not be disappointed if you -consign them to the waste-paper basket, and shall only be too -glad if, on a better representation on the part of others, the -subject be taken up and something definite be done for these -poor Arabs, whom I respect, but who have given me much -trouble in years past. The best way by which we can turn the -edge of their opposition and convert their blasphemy into blessing -is to do our utmost for their salvation.”<a id="FNanchor_142" href="#Footnote_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a></p> - -<p>In this article Mackay pleads for Arabia for Africa’s sake and -asks that “Muscat, which is in more senses than one the key -to Central Africa,” be occupied by a <i>strong</i> mission. “I do<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_330"></a>330</span> -not deny,” he writes, “that the task is difficult; and the men -selected for work in Muscat must be endowed with no small -measure of the Spirit of Jesus, besides possessing such linguistic -ability as to be able to reach not only the ears, but the -very <i>hearts</i> of men.” He pleads for half a dozen men, the -pick of the English universities, to make the venture in faith. -His continual reason for the crying need of such a mission is -the strong influence it would exert in Africa because of the -Arab traders. “It is almost needless to say that the outlook -in Africa will be considerably brightened by the establishment -of a mission to the Arabs in Muscat.” “The Arabs have -helped us often and have hindered us likewise. We owe them -therefore a double debt, which, I can see no more affective -way of paying than by at once establishing a strong mission at -their very headquarters—Muscat itself.”</p> - -<p>Mackay was not unaware of the great difficulties of work -among Mohammedans and in Arabia; he calls it “a gigantic -project” and terms Arabia “the cradle of Islam.” But his -faith is so strong, that at the very beginning of his article he -quotes the remarkable resolution of the Church Missionary -Society passed on May 1st, 1888, regarding work for Mohammedans.<a id="FNanchor_143" href="#Footnote_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a></p> - -<p>The effect of Mackay’s pleading was that the veteran Bishop -French took up the challenge and laid down his life at Muscat. -That life has “such linguistic capacity as to be able,” evermore -“to reach not only the ears but the very <i>hearts</i> of men” -in a way even far above the thought of Alexander Mackay of -Uganda.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_331"></a>331</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XXXI">XXXI<br /> - -<small>ION KEITH FALCONER AND THE ADEN MISSION</small></h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and -my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry -with me to be a witness for me, that I have fought His battles, who now -will be my rewarder.... So he passed over and all the trumpets -sounded for him on the other side.”—<i>Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress.</i> -(Death of Valiant for Truth.)</p></div> - - -<p>Ion Keith Falconer and Thomas Valpy French, both -laid down their lives for Christ after a brief period of -labor in the land they so dearly loved. Keith Falconer died -at the age of thirty after having spent only <i>ten months</i>, all-told, -on Arabian soil; Bishop French was sixty-six years old when -he came to Muscat and lived only ninety-five days after his -arrival. But both gave</p> - -<p class="pcntr"> -“One crowded hour of glorious life,” -</p> - -<p class="nindnt">to the cause of Christ in Arabia and left behind them an influence, -power and inspiration which</p> - -<p class="pcntr"> -“Is worth an age without a name.” -</p> - -<p>Ion Grant Neville Keith Falconer,<a id="FNanchor_144" href="#Footnote_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a> the third son of the late -Earl of Kintore, was born at Edinburgh, Scotland, on the 5th -of July, 1856. At thirteen years of age he went to Harrow to -compete for an entrance scholarship and was successful. He -was not a commonplace boy either in his ways of study or -thoughts on religion. With a healthy ambition to excel and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_332"></a>332</span> -yet with a kindly modesty he made friends of those whom he -surpassed and loved those who were his inferiors. Manliness, -magnanimity, piety and unselfishness, rare traits in a lad, were -in him conspicuous. He loved outdoor sports and excelled in -athletics as well as in his studies. At twenty he was President -of the London Bicycle Club and at twenty-two the champion -racer in Great Britain.</p> - -<p>One paragraph taken from the close of one of his letters -gives us a glimpse of the boy at school and throws light on his -future choice of a profession. It is dated July 16th, 1873: -“ ... Charrington sent me a book yesterday which I -have read. It is called <i>Following Fully</i> ... about a -man who works among the cholera people in London so hard -that he at last succumbs and dies. But every page is full of -Jesus Christ, so that I liked it. And I like Charrington because -he is quite devoted to Him, and has really given up all for His -glory. I must go and do the same soon: how I don’t know.” -This same year he left Harrow, and, after spending a year with -a tutor exclusively in mathematics, entered Cambridge. His -intentions were at first to compete for honors in mathematics -but after careful thought he changed his plans and began to -read for honors in the Theological Tripos.</p> - -<p>During his college days he also distinguished himself as a -master in his two favorite pursuits, bicycling and shorthand. -On the later subject he wrote the article in the Encyclopedia -Britannica. He had a fine intellect, tremendous power of application -and a genius for plodding. His knowledge of -Hebrew was extraordinary; he wrote post-cards in that language -to his professor on every conceivable subject, and translated -the hymn, “Lead Kindly Light” as a pastime. No -wonder that he received the highest honor in that language that -Cambridge can give and passed with ease the Semitic languages -examination at the close of his course.</p> - -<p>But in all his studies and pastimes he did not cease to show -that he was first of all a Christian and had the missionary<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_333"></a>333</span> -spirit. By evangelistic work at Barnwell and Mile-End, alone -and with his friend, Mr. F. N. Charrington, he labored to -reach the poor and down-trodden. For the work in London -he became at once treasurer and contributor of $10,000 and his -work at Mile-End Road is held in loving remembrance by the -present workers. Here doubtless it was that his thoughts first -turned to the regions beyond. For in a letter dated June 12th, -1881, from Stepney Green, he writes: “It is overwhelming to -think of the vastness of the harvest-field when compared with -the indolence, indifference and unwillingness on the part of -most so-called Christians, to become, even in a moderate -degree, laborers in the same. I take the rebuke to myself. -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">... To enjoy the blessings and happiness God gives,</span><br /> -and never to stretch out a helping hand to the poor and the -wicked, is a most horrible thing. When we come to die, it -will be awful for us, if we have to look back on a life spent -purely on self, but, believe me, if we are to spend our life -otherwise, we must make up our minds to be thought ‘odd’ -and ‘eccentric’ and ‘unsocial,’ and to be sneered at and -avoided.... The usual centre is <span class="smcap">Self</span>, the proper centre -is <span class="smcap">God</span>. If, therefore, one lives for God, one is <i>out of centre</i> -or <i>eccentric,</i> with regard to the people who do not.”</p> - -<p>After his final examination at Cambridge, he turned his -whole attention to Arabic; why, he himself knew not, except -that he loved the language; it was God’s plan in his life. To -secure special advantages he went first to Leipzig in October, -1880, and afterward to Assiut, Egypt. The Semitic scholar -was becoming an Arab and fell in love with the desert even -then. He wrote from Assiut, after some months of study: -“I am meditating a camel-ride in the desert. I mean to go -from here to Luxor on a donkey, camping out every night, and -from Luxor to Kossair, on the Red Sea, on a dromedary. -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">... I shall learn two things by doing this journey,</span><br /> -Arabic and cooking.” An attack of fever prevented the -journey, and Falconer returned to England. Even there his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_334"></a>334</span> -engrossing study was Arabic, in which he was now reading -such difficult books as the Mo’allakat and Al Hariri; as he -expressed it, “I expect to peg away at the Arabic dictionary -till my last day.”</p> - -<p>In March, 1884, he married Miss Gwendolen Bevan; they -took a journey to Italy, and then settled at Cambridge, where -Keith Falconer lectured and studied. In the spring of 1885 -he published his Kalilah and Dimnah, translated from the -Syriac, with notes; a lasting monument to his Semitic scholarship -and an example of his wide general learning.<a id="FNanchor_145" href="#Footnote_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a></p> - -<p>Toward the end of the year 1884 his thoughts first began to be -definitely drawn to the foreign mission field, but as yet without -any special choice of field. A summary of the papers written -on Arabia, by General Haig, for the <i>Church Missionary -Intelligencer</i> was published in <i>The Christian</i>, in February, -1885, and fell under the eyes of Keith Falconer. The idea of -evangelizing Arabia took hold of him with Divine power. His -whole soul answered, “Here am I, send me.” The immediate -outcome was a request for an interview with General -Haig, whom he accordingly met in London on February 21st, -1885, “to talk about Aden and Arabia.” He determined to -go to Aden and see the field for himself. Only two questions -did he stop to consider: First, as to the healthfulness of the -place, and then whether he should go out as a free lance or -should associate himself more or less closely with some existing -society. Warmly attached to the Free Church of Scotland -from his childhood, he met the Foreign Mission Committee of -that church and his project was recognized by them. On -October 7th he left, with his young wife, for Aden, and arrived -there on October 28th. They remained until March 6th of the -following spring.</p> - -<p>The first missionary report of this pioneer in South Arabia -indicates what he thought of the field; and why he decided to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_335"></a>335</span> -make Sheikh Othman, and not Aden, the centre of future -work; it also sets forth the methods which Keith Falconer proposed -to adopt for the evangelization of Arabia. The following -extracts are of especial interest:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“The population of Aden is made up of (1) Arabs, all -Moslems, mostly Sunnis of the Shafii sect; (2) Africans, -mostly Somalis who are all Shafii Moslems; (3) Jews; (4) -Natives of India, mostly Moslems, the rest being Hindus, a few -Parsis, and a few Portuguese from Goa. In 1872, for every -five Arabs there were less than three Somalis; but I am told -that now they are numerically equal. The Arabs and Somalis -together make up the great bulk—about four-fifths—of the -whole. In 1872 the Jews numbered 1,435; they are now -reckoned at more than 2,000. The Europeans, the garrison, -and camp-followers number about 3,500. The climate of Aden -is, for the tropics, unusually healthy. The port-surgeon, who -has been here five years, assures me that a missionary need -have no fear on the score of health. This is due to the scarcity -of rain and vegetation, and to the constant sea-breezes. The -summer heat is severe and depressing, but not unhealthy. -There can be little doubt that Aden, from the fact of its being -a British possession, from its geographical position, its political -relations with the interior, its commerce with Yemen, its -healthy climate, and its mixed Arab-Somali population, is, -humanly speaking a good centre for Christian work among the -Moslems of Arabia and Africa.</p> - -<p>“The next question is, how and where precisely to begin? -My own notion is to establish a school, industrial orphanage, and -medical mission at Sheikh Othman. The children are far -more hopeful than the adults, and the power to give medical -aid would be not only very useful in Sheikh Othman, but -invaluable in pushing into the interior. There are numbers of -castaway Somali children in Aden whose parents are only too -willing that they should be fed and cared for by others. These, -as well as orphans, might be gathered and brought up in the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_336"></a>336</span> -faith of Christ, <i>nemine contradicente</i>. It would be necessary to -teach the children to work with their hands, and I think that a -carpenter or craftsman of some kind from home or from India -should be on the mission staff. But the chief object of the -institution would be to train native evangelists and teachers; -and a part of their training should be <i>medical</i>. With a slight, -rough-and-ready knowledge of medicine and surgery, they -would find many doors open to them. In the school, reading -by means of the Arabic Bible and Christian books, writing, and -arithmetic would be taught to all; and English, historical -geography, Euclid, algebra, and natural science to the cleverer -children. A native teacher, procurable from Syria or Egypt, -would be very valuable, and I think a necessity at first. If it -were known in the interior that a competent medical man and -surgeon resided in Sheikh Othman, the Arabs who now come -to Aden for advice would stop short at our mission-house; and -the surgeon would have considerable scope both in Sheikh -Othman, El-Hautah, and the little country villages, not to -speak of the opposite African country. Of course the treatment -of surgical cases would involve the keeping of a few -beds. The medical missionary should be a thoroughly qualified -man, as natives often delay to come for advice until disease has -become serious and complicated. The port-surgeon has impressed -this upon me several times. It should be mentioned -that the native assistant at the Sheikh Othman dispensary often -finds that Arabs come to Sheikh Othman to be treated, and, -deriving no benefit, refuse to go on to Aden, and return home. -The institution should stand in a cultivated plot or garden. -This would render it far more attractive, and would greatly -benefit the children. It would be possible to arrange for this -in Sheikh Othman, where there is plenty of water, and the soil -is good; but not in Aden, where almost utter barrenness is -everywhere found.</p> - -<p>“My reasons, then, for perferring Sheikh Othman are:</p> - -<p>“1. We should not be seriously competing with govern<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_337"></a>337</span>ment -institutions. In fact, I am told that the government -would be glad to be relieved of the necessity of keeping up a -dispensary at Sheikh Othman.</p> - -<p>“2. The climate is fresher and less enervating than that of -Aden. From its position it has the benefit of any sea-breeze -which may blow, and the soil absorbs heat without giving it -out again. On the other hand, in Aden, the high, black, -cinder-like rocks often obstruct the breeze, store heat in the -day, and give it out at night. Thus the nights in Sheikh -Othman are markedly cooler than in Aden.</p> - -<p>“3. There is abundance of water, and the soil is capable -of cultivation—a fact proved by the two fine private gardens -there, not to speak of the government garden. But at Aden -the soil is utterly barren, and all water must be paid for. It is -either condensed, or procured by an aqueduct, or from a well -sunk 120 feet in the solid rock. The water from the latter is -quite sweet, and sometimes handed round after dinner in wineglasses!</p> - -<p>“4. I am told on the best authority that it would be very -difficult to get a suitable site in Aden, whereas there are plenty -in Sheikh Othman. Besides any number of building sites, two -very large garden sites are vacant. The latter I have inspected, -and the one I am recommended to take as having the best soil -is admirably situated between the old village and the new settlement. -It occupies the space between them. I can have the -whole or the half of it <i>granted</i> to me at a nominal quit-rent.</p> - -<p>“5. Sheikh Othman is eight miles on the road to the interior, -and so in closer contact with the tribes, and removed -from the influence of the bad and unchristian example set by -so many Europeans.</p> - -<p>“On the other hand, it must be borne in mind that the -population of Sheikh Othman—about 6,500—is comparatively -small, though likely to increase somewhat; and that it is very -shifting, not more than some 1,500 being permanently resident. -The last objection, however, applies to Aden as well.”</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_338"></a>338</span></p> - -<p>In another portion of the same report, after telling of the importance -of Aden as a missionary centre, he emphasizes the -fact that “More than a quarter of a million camels, with their -drivers, enter and leave Aden yearly with produce from all -parts of Yemen. The great majority of these pass through -Sheikh Othman, where they make a halt of several hours on -the journey to Aden.” No one acquainted with Aden and its -vicinity and reading Keith Falconer’s letters can fail to be -struck with the fact that from the outset he had his plans made -<i>for the interior</i>, and that Sheikh Othman was only the first -stage which he intended to use as a base of operations. He -wrote to General Haig about the same time as the date of his -report: “I have made up my mind that the right place for -me to settle at is Sheikh Othman, not Aden. This will leave -Aden and Steamer Point open to the Church Missionary Society. -Though I do not think that a medical missionary would -have much scope in Aden, I think that a Bible and tract-room -and preaching-hall might be started there.... I hope to -visit Lahej soon, but fear I shall be unable to go to Sana. I -should not know where to leave my wife. When I have a colleague -at Sheikh Othman with a wife, the two ladies can be -together while the husbands go to Sana and elsewhere. If the -Church Missionary Society missionaries come here I trust we -shall find ways and means of coöperating and helping one another.”</p> - -<p>In February, 1886, Keith Falconer went with a Scotch military -doctor to Lahej, the first large village beyond Sheikh -Othman, in the middle of an oasis, and then governed by an -independent “Sultan.” In March, having completed his preliminary -survey of the field and decided on choice of a location, -he sailed for England, not to tarry there, but to prepare -for the final exodus to Arabia. “For,” says his biographer, -“the soldier of the Cross had counted the cost, had weighed -with the utmost care every risk and had taken his final resolve. -The manner in which he told his friends this was very charac<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_339"></a>339</span>teristic -of the man ... who goes forth to the fight ready -to spend and be spent in the cause of Christ.” In May he met -the General Assembly of the Free Church and made his -famous address on Mohammedanism and missions to Mohammedans. -In order to begin the work at Aden, a second missionary, -a medical man, was desired. Although the man was -not yet found, Keith Falconer made the generous proposal to -pay the sum of £300 ($1,500) annually to the Free Church -for the new missionary’s salary. He had already offered to -pay the expenses of himself and his wife, and had agreed to -take upon himself the whole cost of the building of the mission-house. -He laid on the missionary altar not only his talent of -learning but that of money, and was in truth “an honorary -missionary.”</p> - -<p>The time between Keith Falconer’s arrival in England and -his return to Arabia was crowded full of life and activity, but -only the most important events can be narrated. He received -the gratifying but altogether unexpected offer of the post of -Lord Almoner’s professor of Arabic at Cambridge, which he -accepted, becoming the successor of Edward H. Palmer and -Robertson Smith. He prepared the lectures required, choosing -for his subject “The Pilgrimage to Mecca.” He read all the -books on the subject in many languages, even learning the -Dutch grammar in order to understand a work in that language. -He visited hospitals in search of an associate for Arabia. He -selected his library and furniture to take to Aden and disposed -of his house-lease. He acted as judge at the Young Men’s -Christian Association Cycling Club races in Cambridge. He -went to Glasgow to meet Dr. Stewart Cowen who was appointed -his co-worker to Arabia. He tried to insure his life in favor -of the mission-work at Mile-End; but while the insurance -office declared him “First-Class,” they refused to grant the -policy when they heard of his proposed place of residence. -He gave several farewell addresses in Scotland and delivered -his Cambridge lectures just on the eve of leaving for Arabia.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_340"></a>340</span> -All this work was crowded into six months’ time by the man -who, like Napoleon, did not have the word <i>impossible</i> in his -vocabulary. How well the work was done is proved by his lectures, -the article in the Encyclopedia and his farewell addresses. -What could be finer and stronger than these last sentences -from his farewell address at Glasgow which still ring with -power:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“We have a great and imposing war-office, but a very small -army ... while vast continents are shrouded in almost -utter darkness, and hundreds of millions suffer the horrors of -heathenism or of Islam, the burden of proof lies upon you to -show that the circumstances in which God has placed you -were meant by Him to keep out of the foreign mission field.”</p></div> - -<p>Dr. Cowen arrived at Aden on December 7th, 1886, and Keith -Falconer a day later, by the Austrian steamship “Berenice.” -He wrote, “We stopped at Jiddah, but to my great disappointment -quarantine prevented me from going on shore. I -gazed long at the hills which hid Mecca from us.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Keith Falconer arrived a fortnight later. But the new -missionaries were unfortunate at the outset in obtaining a suitable -dwelling. The stone bungalow, which they expected to -occupy at Sheikh Othman until a mission-house was built, -could not be rented; after considerable difficulty they managed -to secure a large native hut, about forty feet square, -which, with certain changes, appeared suitable for the emergency. -A shed, erected by Keith Falconer, served them as a -dispensary, and on January 11th, he wrote, “Our temporary -quarters are very comfortable and the books look very nice.” -Everything went well for a time and arrangements were made -to begin building the mission-house. A tour was taken to Bir -Achmed and the gospel was preached every day by word and -work, although some of the party were down with fever nearly -all the time.</p> - -<p>Early in February, 1887, they were cheered by the visit of -General Haig, returning from his Yemen journey; but very<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_341"></a>341</span> -soon after things began for the first time to be clouded over. -On February 10th, returning from a tour inland, Keith Falconer -was seized with a high fever which continued for three -days and then began to abate, but did not leave him entirely. -Mrs. Keith Falconer also had a severe attack of fever, and -both went for a change to Steamer Point for three weeks, after -which they returned to their “hut” at Sheikh Othman. On -May 1st, Keith Falconer wrote to his mother, “You will be -sorry to hear that I have been down with yet another attack -... this makes my seventh attack. This rather miserable -shanty, in which we are compelled to live, is largely the cause -of our fevers ... we expect to begin living in the new -house about June 1st, though it will not be finished then.” -But this letter did not reach her until after the telegram had -told the news that God had called His servant to Himself. -On Tuesday, May 10th, after continued fevers and two restless -nights, he went to sleep, and in the morning ... -“one glance told all. He was lying on his back with eyes -half open. The whole attitude and expression indicated a -sudden and painless end, as if it had taken place during sleep, -there being no indication whatever of his having tried to move -or speak.” On the evening of the next day he was laid to -rest, “In the cemetery at Aden by British officers and soldiers—fitting -burial for a soldier of Christ, who, with armor on -and courage undaunted, fell with face to the foe. The martyr -of Aden had entered God’s Eden. And so Great Britain made -her first offering—a costly sacrifice—to Arabia’s evangelization.”</p> - -<p>Keith Falconer did not live long, but he lived long enough -to do what he had purposed, (and to do it after God’s plan not -his own) “<i>to call attention to Arabia</i>.” The workman fell but -the work did not cease. The Free Church asked for one volunteer -to step into his place, and thirteen of the graduating -class of New College responded. By the story of Keith Falconer’s -life ten thousand lives have been spiritually quickened<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_342"></a>342</span> -to think of the foreign field and its claims. He, “being dead, -yet speaketh,” and will continue to speak until Arabia is evangelized. -Every future missionary to Arabia and every friend -of missions who reads Falconer’s life will approve the appropriateness -of the simple inscription on his grave at Aden:</p> - -<p class="pcntr"> -TO<br /> -THE DEAR MEMORY OF<br /> -THE HON. ION KEITH FALCONER,<br /> -THIRD SON OF<br /> -THE EARL AND COUNTESS OF KINTORE,<br /> -WHO ENTERED INTO REST<br /> -AT SHEIKH OTHMAN, MAY 11, 1887,<br /> -AGED 30 YEARS. -</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and, where I am, there -shall also My servant be: if any man serve Me, him will My Father -honor.”</p></div> - -<p>The influence of Keith Falconer’s consecration was widely -felt at the time of his death and has been felt ever since. His -biography has become a missionary classic, and has passed -through six editions. The Presbytery of the Scotch Church in -Kafraria, South Africa, resolved in October, 1887, that “steps -be taken to prepare a memoir of the late Hon. Ion Keith Falconer, -to be printed in <i>Kafir</i> as a tract for circulation among -the native congregations with a view to impress them with an -example of self-sacrifice.”</p> - -<p>The mission at Sheikh Othman was continued. Through -the generosity of Keith Falconer’s mother and widow stipends -for two missionaries were guaranteed. Dr. Cowen returned to -England, but Rev. W. R. W. Gardner and Dr. Alexander -Patterson came to the field. For a time Mr. Matthew Lochhead, -from the mission among the Kabyles in Morocco, also -joined them. A school for rescued slaves was started, but the -children’s health failing they were transferred to Lovedale in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_343"></a>343</span> -Africa. In 1893, Rev. J. C. Young, M. D., was sent out as a -medical missionary to enforce the Rev. Mr. Gardner who with -Mrs. Gardner was then alone; Dr. Paterson and Mr. Lochhead -having left for reasons of health. Rev. and Mrs. Gardner -went to Cairo in 1895, and the following year Dr. Young -was joined by Dr. and Mrs. W. D. Miller. In 1898 Mrs. -Miller died, and Dr. Miller returned home. At present the -mission staff consists of Rev. Dr. Young and Dr. Morris, who -joined the mission in 1898.</p> - -<p>Despite these frequent changes and short periods of service, -the Keith Falconer mission has not been at a standstill. Each -of the faithful band used their special talent and individuality -in removing somewhat from the vast mountain of Moslem -prejudice and opposition “to make straight in the desert a -highway for our God.” The immediate interior around Aden -has been frequently visited; the mission dispensary is known -for hundreds of miles beyond Sheikh Othman. We record -with regret that Keith Falconer’s wish to go to Sana remains -unfulfilled on the part of the mission. A school for boys has -been started, and the small “shanty” for the sick has grown -into a fully equipped mission dispensary, which treated over -17,800 out-patients in 1898. A much needed and most hopeful -work among the soldiers is carried on in Steamer Point -(Aden) and the Keith Falconer Memorial Church is filled -every Sabbath with those who love to hear the old gospel.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_344"></a>344</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XXXII">XXXII<br /> - -<small>BISHOP FRENCH THE VETERAN MISSIONARY TO MUSCAT</small></h2></div> - - -<p>If it was Keith Falconer’s life and death that sealed the missionary -love of the church to Aden, it was the death of -Thomas Valpy French<a id="FNanchor_146" href="#Footnote_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a> that turned many eyes to Muscat. -Bishop French it was who signalized the completion of his -fortieth year of missionary service by attacking, single handed, -the seemingly impregnable fortress of Islam in Oman. He is -called by Eugene Stock, “the most distinguished of all Church -Missionary Society missionaries.”</p> - -<p>We are tempted to describe this man’s early mission work in -founding the Agra college and protecting the native Christians -in the mutiny; his pioneer work in Derajat; his founding of -the St. John Divinity School at Lahore; his controversies with -the Mohammedans; and his manifold labors as the first -Bishop of Lahore, but we can only chronicle here the closing -years of his useful life. After forty years of “labors abundant” -and “journeyings oft” he resigned his bishopric to -travel among Arabic-speaking people and learn more of their -language. He visited the Holy Land, Armenia, Bagdad and -Tunis, everywhere diligently seeking to learn Arabic, and persuade -the Moslems of the truth of Christianity. He became, -as some one expressed it, a “Christian fakir” for the sake of -the gospel and desired to end his life as he began it, in pioneer -missionary-work.</p> - -<p>As we have said it was Mackay of Uganda who riveted the -bishop’s attention to Muscat. Such a plea from such lips<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_345"></a>345</span> -could not but touch the heart of such a veteran. No one else -came forward, so how could he refuse? He knew that age -and infirmities were coming upon him, but he wanted to die a -missionary to Mohammedans. He had, to use his own words, -“an inexpressible desire” to preach to the Arabs. He was -willing to begin the work on his own account with the hope -that the Church Missionary Society would take it up.</p> - -<p>What was the character of this lion-heart who dared to lift -his grey head high and respond <i>alone</i>, to Mackay’s call for -“half a dozen men, the pick of the English Universities to -make the venture in faith”? One who was his friend and -fellow-missionary for many years wrote: “To live with him -was to drink in an atmosphere that was spiritually bracing. As -the air of the Engadine is to the body, so was his intimacy to -the soul. It was an education to be with him. To acquire -anything approaching his sense of duty was alone worth a visit -to India. He demanded implicit obedience from those whom -he directed, and often the cost was considerable. If any were -unwilling to face a risk, he fell grievously in the bishop’s estimation. -There was nothing that he thought a man should not -yield—home, or wife, or health—if God’s call was apparent. -But then every one knew that he only asked of them what he -himself had done, and was always doing. How shall I speak -of his unworldliness? India is full of tales of this; of acts -that often led to somewhat humorous results. There was no in -season or out of season with him. He was always on his Master’s -business. No biography, it is said, will be complete that -does not show this side of his character. To outsiders frequently -it seemed to lead him into inconsistencies. It did not -seem incongruous for him to turn to the lady next to him, at a -large luncheon party, and begin to discuss the heavenly Bride -of Christ; neither was it strange when hymn-books were distributed -at a large reception he held at Government House -(kindly lent for the bishop’s sojourn there), and the evening -party was closed with hymns and prayer.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_346"></a>346</span></p> - -<p>Rev. Robert Clark of the Punjab, Church Missionary Society, -testifies: “When he first began his work in Agra, he -studied about sixteen hours a day. He taught in his school, -he preached in the bazaars, he instructed inquirers for baptism, -he prepared catechists for ordination, he was engaged in writing -books, at the same time that he was learning Arabic, Persian, -Urdu, Sanscrit, and Hindi with munshis. Such excellence -few can attain to, because few can safely follow in his -steps in this respect. But all can copy his example of prayerful -labor. When he spent his holidays in travels and in preaching -excursions far and near, he showed us how to spend every -hour of relaxation in the most profitable way. When he refused -to possess even a very ordinary conveyance, because he -thought that a missionary should go on foot, and declined to use -anything but the most common furniture for his house, he set -us an example of self-abnegation, and showed us what, in his -opinion, should be the attitude of the missionary before the -world. When he spent his earliest mornings with God, with -his Hebrew Bible and Greek Testament before him, he often -invited some friend to sit by him to share with him the rich -thoughts which the Word of God suggested to his mind.”</p> - -<p>This was the man who in solitary loneliness, without one -friend to stand at his side, planted and upheld till death the -banner of the cross where it had never been planted before. -In the hottest season of the year, with a little tent and two -servants he was preparing to push inland when death interposed -and gave rest to the veteran of sixty-six years. “We fools -accounted his life madness, but he is numbered among the -children of God and his lot is among the saints.” (Wisdom -of Solomon v. 4, 5.) Only Judas can “have indignation -saying to what purpose is this waste?” This broken box of -exceeding precious ointment has given fragrance to the whole -world.</p> - -<p>We will let Bishop French tell his own brief story of the -work at Muscat, beginning with the time when we travelled to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_347"></a>347</span>gether -down the Red Sea both in quest of God’s plan for us in -Arabia.<a id="FNanchor_147" href="#Footnote_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p class="psig"> -<i>Near Aden, Jan. 22d, 1891.</i> -</p> - -<p>“Boisterous winds and turbulent seas have racked my brain -sorely, and I have seldom had such torture in this line. But -we are close to the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, and hope to reach -Aden some twelve hours hence. I should have been sorry to -miss Hodeidah, where I had a long day (spite of difficulty of -reaching it by <i>sambuca</i> or small boat of broad and heavy -build), returning to ship in the evening. I left my friends, -Maitland and a young American missionary, and made my -way straight out through a gate of one of the stout city walls, -into the country beyond, where are palm-groves and some fairly -imposing stuccoed country-houses of merchants and men of -rank. Under an arcade (as the sun was to be feared) I got a -little congregation together, some learned, others unlearned, -and addressed them for over an hour, eliciting the opposition -of one or two of the <i>ulumā</i>, or educated men. For the first -time in this part of my journey, my mouth seemed a little -opened and heart enlarged to witness for Christ, and a few -seemed really struck and interested. I tried to get entrance -into a mosque or two, as of old time into Afghan mosques with -Gordon and others, but failed to find the proper Imams -within. I secured the lower steps of a flight of steps leading -up to the private residence of a high Turkish officer, in rich -uniform, a general of army here, not knowing whose steps I -was occupying. However, the old gentleman came down (as -a Roman centurion in old time might have done) and took his -seat, with a few others, on his own doorstep, and listened -with singular docility and thankfulness, and begged my blessing -on his office, and his fulfillment of its arduous duties. -After first leave-taking, he sent down to me a beautiful walking-stick -of lemon-wood, so I had to mount the steps to express<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_348"></a>348</span> -my gratitude and acknowledgment of his singular courtesy -and friendship. Then came a still more enthusiastic and -affectionate leave-taking still, and warm kissing of hands, to -Maitland’s astonishment. I certainly never experienced such -kindness and friendship from any Turkish official before in any -quarter. I trust the message may have struck his heart. -Anyhow, he gladly accepted a copy of the whole Bible—this -is one of the most bigoted of Arab cities.</p> - -<p>“There was an excellent colporteur here this week, of the -Bible Society, Stephanos, a Jewish convert, I believe, and excellent -Arabic scholar. The Wali, or viceroy of the city, has -forbidden his carrying Arabic Bibles into the interior, though -the Hebrew ones for the Jews at Sennaa are passed, some six -days, into the mountains. In Jidda itself, I had some small -measure of encouragement, but not nearly so much as in -Hodeidah, which has now outstripped Mocha as a thriving -trade centre in those parts.”</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<i>Muscat, Gulf of Oman,<br /> -February 13th, 1891.</i> -</p> - -<p>“I arrived here on Sunday last with Mr. Maitland, of the -Cambridge Delhi Mission, whom I met in Egypt, and who -spends a few weeks for his health’s sake with me, perhaps until -Easter. We did not like throwing ourselves on the British -Consul here, as we thought it might embarrass him to entertain -Christian missionaries on their first arrival here; and we had -very great difficulty in finding even the meanest quarters for -the first day or two, but are now in quarters in an adjoining -village, more tolerable as regards necessary comforts, belonging -to the American Consul, who is agent for a New York -house of business. I have written to India for a Swiss-cottage -tent, as a resource in case of no possible residence being -available here, or anything approaching even the English village -public-house, or Persian caravanserai. In the adjoining -hills such a tent might give shelter during the hot weather, if -the Arabs will tolerate the presence of a Christian missionary.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_349"></a>349</span> -“Of possibilities of entrance of a mission, I feel it would be -premature to speak yet. We are pushing on our Arabic -studies, and I am glad to find how much more intelligible my -Arab teaching is than in Tunis and Egypt. I hope soon to -find a Sheikh of some learning, to carry on translations in -Arabic under his guidance, if life and health be spared. I feel -most thankful to feel myself again in a definite temporary -centre, at least of missionary effort. ‘Patience and long-suffering -with joyfulness’ I would humbly and heartily desire to -cultivate, as most appropriate to my present condition and circumstances. -The British Consul, a very polite and courteous -and high principled man, is hopeless as to any effect being -produced on the Oman Arabs, and feels his position precludes -him from making common cause with any effort for making -proselytes among them. So when Maitland goes I shall be -pretty lonely here, not for the first time, however, and I only -pray that the loneliness may help me to realize more fully the -blessed Presence which fills, strengthens, animates, and supports.”</p></div> - -<p>His last letter written from Muscat to the Church Missionary -Society is dated April 24th, 1891. A portion of it is as follows:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Patience here, as elsewhere (and more than in most scenes -I have visited), is a great prerequisite. I still live alone in a -borrowed house, a spare one belonging to the American Consul -here, and, rough as it is, it is amply sufficient for a missionary, -and is in the heart of the town. I cannot get many—very -few, indeed—to come to my house and read, which is naturally -one of my great objects. They ask me into their shops and -houses sometimes, to sit and discuss on the great question at -issue between us and them, some Beluchees, mostly Arabs; and -the latter I vastly prefer, and consider more hopeful. There -are some Hindus in the crowded bazaars, but I see little of -them—partly because of the noise of narrow streets and traffic, -and partly because I do not wish to be tempted away from the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_350"></a>350</span> -Arabic. Most of the few Hindu traffickers living here understand -Arabic.</p> - -<p>“There is much outward observance of religious forms; there -are crowds of mosques; rather a large proportion of educated -men and women too; the latter take special interest in religious -questions, and sometimes lead the opposition to the gospel. -They have large girls’ schools and female teachers. There is a -lepers’ village nigh at hand to the town. I occupied for the -second time this morning a shed they have allotted me, well -roofed over; and those poor lepers, men and women, gathered -in fair numbers to listen. Chiefly, however, I reach the educated -men by the roadside or in a house-portico, sometimes -even in a mosque, which is to me a new experience. Still -there is considerable shyness, occasionally bitter opposition; -yet bright faces of welcome sometimes cheer me and help me -on, and I am only surprised that so much is borne with. I -have made special efforts to get into the mosques, but most -often this is refused. The Moolahs and Muallims seem afraid -of coming to help me on in my translations, or in encountering -with me more difficult passages in the best classics. This has -surprised and disconcerted me rather; but I have been saved -in the main from anything like depression, and have had happy -and comfortable proofs of the Saviour’s gracious Presence with -me. The Psalms, as usual, seem most appropriate and answerable -to the needs of such a pioneer and lonely work....</p> - -<p>“If I can get no faithful servant and guide for the journey -into the interior, well versed in dealing with Arabs and getting -needful common supplies (I want but little), I may try Bahrein, -or Hodeidah and Sennaa, and if that fails, the North of Africa -again, in some highland; for without a house of our own the -climate would be insufferable for me—at least, during the very -hot months—and one’s work would be at a standstill. But I -shall not give up, please God, even temporarily, my plans for -the interior, unless, all avenues being closed, it would be sheer -madness to attempt to carry them out.”</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_351"></a>351</span></p> - -<p>He never reached the interior, for he received a sunstroke on -his way from Muscat to the neighboring village, Mattra, in an -open boat. He was removed to the Consulate but scarcely regained -consciousness except to utter a “God bless you” to the -Consul, Colonel Mockler. He died on May 14th, 1891. The -very manner of his death fulfilled, more than he ever thought, -his own words in one of his letters from Muscat: “In memory -of Henry Martyn’s pleadings for Arabia, Arabs and the Arabic, -I seem almost trying at least to follow more directly in his footsteps -and under his guidance, than even in Persia or India, -however incalculable the distance at which the guided one follows -the leader!”</p> - -<p>The grave of Bishop French is in the bottom of a narrow -ravine circled by black rocks and reached by boat, by rounding -the rocky point to the south of Muscat. Here are many -graves of sailors of the Royal marine and others who died on -this burning and inhospitable coast. Here also rests the body -of Rev. George E. Stone, the American Missionary, who was -called home in the summer of 1899, after a short period of -service.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">In Memory of Thomas Valpy French, Bishop Missionary</span>.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Where Muscat fronts the Orient sun</div> - <div class="verse indent2">’Twixt heaving sea and rocky steep,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His work of mercy scarce begun,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A saintly soul has fallen asleep:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who comes to lift the Cross instead?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who takes the standard from the dead?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Where, under India’s glowing sky,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Agra the proud, and strong Lahore,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lift roof and gleaming dome on high,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His “seven-toned tongue” is heard no more:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who comes to sound alarm instead?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who takes the clarion from the dead?</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_352"></a>352</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Where white camps mark the Afghan’s bound,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From Indus to Suleiman’s range,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Through many a gorge and upland—sound</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Tidings of joy divinely strange:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But there they miss his eager tread;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who comes to toil then for the dead?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Where smile Cheltonian hills and dales,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where stretches Erith down the shore</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of Thames, wood-fringed and fleck’d with sails,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His holy voice is heard no more</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Is it for nothing he is dead?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Send forth your children in his stead!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Far from fair Oxford’s groves and towers,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her scholar Bishop dies apart;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He blames the ease of cultured hours</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In death’s still voice that shakes the heart.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Brave saint! for dark Arabia dead!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I go to fight the fight instead!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O Eastern-lover from the West!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thou hast out-soared these prisoning bars;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thy memory, on thy Master’s breast,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Uplifts us like the beckoning stars.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We follow now as thou hast led;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Baptize us, Saviour, for the dead!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">—<i>Archdeacon A. E. Moule.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_353"></a>353</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XXXIII">XXXIII<br /> - -<small>THE AMERICAN ARABIAN MISSION</small></h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Our ultimate object is to occupy the interior of Arabia.”—<i>Plan of the -Arabian Mission.</i></p> - -<p>“To such an appeal there can be but one reply. The Dutch Reformed -Church when it took up the mission originally commenced on an independent -basis as the Arabian Mission, did so with full knowledge of the -plans and purposes of its founders, which, as the very title of the mission -shows, embraced nothing less than such a comprehensive scheme of evangelization -as that above described.”—<i>Major-General F. T. Haig.</i></p> - -<p>“It is not keeping expenses down, but keeping faith and enthusiasm -up, that gives a clear balance sheet. Give the Church heroic leadership, -place before it high ideals, keep it on the march for larger conquests, and -the financial problem will take care of itself. If the Church sees that we -are not going to trust God enough to venture upon any work for Him till -we have the money in sight, it will probably adopt the same prudence in -making contributions, and our good financiering will be with heavy loss -of income.”—<i>The Christian Advocate.</i></p></div> - - -<p>“The Arabian Mission was organized August 1st, 1889, and -its first missionary, Rev. James Cantine, sailed for the -field October 16th of the same year. In order to trace the -steps that led to the organization of this first American Mission -to Arabia, we must go back a year earlier.</p> - -<p>In the Theological Seminary of the Reformed (Dutch) -Church at New Brunswick, New Jersey, the missionary spirit -was especially active during the year 1888. This was fostered -by members of the faculty who had a warm love for that work, -by a missionary lectureship recently inaugurated, by the missionary -alumni of the seminary, and by some of the students themselves -who brought missions to the front. Among these students -were James Cantine and Philip T. Phelps of the senior<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_354"></a>354</span> -class, and Samuel M. Zwemer of the middle class, who had -individually decided to work abroad, God willing, and who -used to meet for prayer and consultation regarding the choice -of a field of labor. The first meeting of this band was held -on October 31st, 1888, and the topic discussed was, “what -constitutes a call to the Foreign field?” After that they met -almost every week, and gradually the idea took shape of banding -themselves together to begin pioneer work in some one of -the unoccupied fields. Tibet and Central Africa were mentioned; -but their thoughts generally seemed to unite on some -Arabic-speaking country especially Nubia or the upper Nile. -The Seminary library was ransacked for information on these -fields, without definite results. At the end of November the -band decided to consult with their Hebrew and Arabic professor, -Rev. J. G. Lansing, D. D., who, being of missionary -parentage and full of the missionary passion, warmly welcomed -their confidence and from that time became associated with -them in their plans. After some time it was mutually agreed -that God called them to pioneer work in some portion of the -Mohammedan world in or adjacent to Arabia.</p> - -<p>Over against this Divine call there appeared a great human -difficulty: the fact that the church to which they belonged -and owed allegiance conducted no missions in the Mohammedan -world. The Mission Board of that church was already -burdened with a debt of $35,000, and therefore it was improbable -that they would establish such a work in addition -to their other mission work. In spite of these obstacles, however, -it was decided, February 11, 1899, to make formal application -to the Board, and on May 23d the following plan was -drawn up, and presented to the Board of Foreign Missions:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“We the undersigned desiring to engage in pioneer mission work in -some Arabic-speaking country, and especially in behalf of Moslems and -slaves, do at the outset recognize the following facts:</p> - -<p>1. The great need and encouragement for this work at the present -time.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_355"></a>355</span></p> - -<p>2. The non-existence of such mission work under the supervision of -our Board of Foreign Missions at the present time.</p> - -<p>3. The fact that hitherto little has been done in the channels indicated.</p> - -<p>4. The inability of our Board to inaugurate this work under its present -status.</p> - -<p>Therefore, that the object desired may be realized, we respectfully -submit to the Board, and with their endorsement to the church at large, -the following propositions:</p> - -<p>1. The inauguration of this work at as early a time as possible.</p> - -<p>2. The field to be Arabia, the upper Nile or any other field, subject to -the statement of the preamble, that shall be deemed most advantageous, -after due consideration.</p> - -<p>3. The expenses of said mission to be met (<i>a</i>) by yearly subscriptions -in amounts of from five to two hundred dollars; the subscribers of like -amounts to constitute a syndicate with such organization as shall be -deemed desirable; (<i>b</i>) by syndicates of such individuals, churches and -organizations as shall undertake the support of individual missionaries, or -contribute to such specific objects as shall be required by the mission.</p> - -<p>4. These syndicates shall be formed and the financial pledges made -payable for a term of five years.</p> - -<p>5. At the expiration of this period of five years the mission shall pass -under the direct supervision of our Board as in the case of our other missions. -Should the Board still be financially unable, syndicates shall be -re-formed and pledges re-taken.</p> - -<p>6. In the meantime the mission shall be generally under the care of -the Board ... through whose hands its funds shall pass.</p> - -<p>7. The undersigned request the approval of the Board to this undertaking -in general, and particularly in the matter of soliciting subscriptions.</p> - -<p class="psig"> -<span class="gap4">(Signed.)</span> <span class="smcap">J. G. Lansing</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">Jas. Cantine</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">P. T. Phelps</span>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">S. M. Zwemer</span>.”<br /> -</p></div> - -<p>This plan was first presented to the Board on June 3d, when -it was provisionally accepted to be referred to the General -Synod. On June 11th, the Synod, after a long and ardent -discussion, referred the whole matter back to the Board, asking -them “carefully to consider the whole question and, should -the Board see their way clear, that they be authorized to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_356"></a>356</span> -inaugurate the mission proposed.” On June 26th the Board -met and passed the following resolution:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“<i>Resolved</i>, That, while the Board is greatly interested in the proposition -to engage in mission work among the Arabic speaking peoples, the -work in which the Board is already engaged is so great and so constantly -growing, and the financial condition of the Board is such (its debt at that -time being $35,000), that the Board feels constrained to decline to assume -any responsibility in the matter.</p> - -<p>“If, however, during the next four months, such a degree of interest in -Foreign Missions should be developed in the churches as to reduce the -amount to which the treasury is now overdrawn to a small fraction, then -the Board would feel inclined to favor that important enterprise.”</p></div> - -<p>Meanwhile the plan had been fully discussed in the church -papers, and although there were warm friends of the enterprise -who earnestly plead by pen and purse for its inauguration, the -current generally ran dead against the proposal, and much cold -water was thrown on the enterprise.<a id="FNanchor_148" href="#Footnote_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a></p> - -<p>How those felt who were most concerned in the decision was -expressed by Professor Lansing, on their behalf, in the following -words: “The writer and the individuals named are -deeply grateful to General Synod for its hearty reception and -advocacy of the proposed mission. And, on the other hand, -they not only have no word of complaint to utter in regard to -the action of the Board, but are grateful to the Board for the -careful consideration they have given the matter, and deeply -sympathize with them in the sorrow which they and all must -feel in connection with the adverse action taken. But this does -not discharge the responsibility. A responsibility Divinely -imposed is not discharged by any admission of existing human -difficulty.... When God calls we must obey, not object. -And also when God calls to some specific work, then He must -have some way by which that work can be done.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_357"></a>357</span></p> - -<p>After much thought and prayer a plan was adopted for conducting -this work. The motto of the new mission appeared at -the head: “Oh that Ishmael might live before Thee.” After -the preamble, similar to the original plan, there are the following -sections:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“1. This missionary movement shall be known as The Arabian Mission.</p> - -<p>2. The field, so far as at present it is possible to be determined, shall -be Arabia and the adjacent coast of Africa.</p> - -<p>3. Selected by and associated with the undersigned shall be a Committee -of Advice, composed of four contributors, to assist in advancing the -interests of this mission.</p> - -<p>4. In view of the fact that this mission is of necessity undenominational -in its personnel and working, contributions are solicited from any -and all to whom this may come, without reference to denominational adherence.</p> - -<p>5. The amount required to carry on the work of this mission will be -the sum necessary to meet the equipment and working expenses of the -individuals approved of and sent to engage in the work of this mission. -No debt shall be incurred and no salaries be paid to other than missionaries.</p> - -<p>6. It is desired that the amount subscribed <i>shall not interfere with -the individual’s regular denominational contributions to foreign missions</i>....</p> - -<p>7. Of the undersigned the first party shall be Treasurer, and have general -oversight of the interests of the mission at home and as such shall -render an annual statement, while the missionaries in the field shall have -the direction of those interests abroad....”</p></div> - -<p>The rough draft of this plan was drawn up at Pine Hill Cottage, -in the Catskills, on August 1st. A few days later, while -the band was at the old Cantine homestead, Stone Ridge, -New York, Dr. Lansing composed the Arabian Mission hymn, -which will always be an inspiration to those who love Arabia; -but it will never be sung with deeper feeling than it was for the -first time, in an upper room, by three voices.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_358"></a>358</span></p> - -<p><a id="THE_ARABIAN_MISSIONARY_HYMN"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp44" id="illus-358" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-358.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">THE ARABIAN MISSIONARY HYMN. -Facsimile of the original copy composed by Prof. J. G. Lansing in 1889, -at Stone Ridge, N. Y.</div> -</div> - -<p>When the plan was published, the Rubicon was crossed, -although not without the loss of one name from among the -signers. Contributions began to come in, the Committee of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_359"></a>359</span> -Advice was selected, and the mission was incorporated. Among -other tokens of favor the mission received at this juncture from -Catherine Crane Halstead, a legacy, of nearly five thousand -dollars—the largest gift, and the only legacy received by the -Arabian Mission in the past decade. This unexpected and -providential donation was encouraging and enabled the mission -to begin work immediately.</p> - -<p>On October 1st James Cantine was ordained by the Classis -of Kingston in the Fair Street Reformed Church and he sailed -for Syria on October 16th, stopping at Edinburgh to consult -with the Free Church of Scotland Committee regarding cooperation -with their mission at Aden. The proposition was -cordially welcomed but was not acted upon since at Sheikh -Othman, it was afterwards mutually agreed that more would -probably be accomplished if the missions worked separately. -The second member of the band to leave for the field was -ordained by the Classis of Iowa, at Orange City, and sailed -on June 28th, 1890.</p> - -<p>The two pioneers left Syria for Cairo at the end of November -to meet Professor Lansing who was in Egypt for his health. -On December 18th Mr. Cantine left by direct steamer for Aden, -and on January 8th, 1891, the writer followed in an Egyptian -coasting steamer, desiring to call at Jiddah and Hodeidah, and -to meet General Haig, who was then at Suakin in charge of -rescue work for orphans after the war.<a id="FNanchor_149" href="#Footnote_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a> My journey down the -Red Sea was made in company with the aged Bishop French, -though neither of us ever heard of the other before we met on -the train to take the same ship at Suez. We then learned for -the first time that both were bound for the same point with the -same object, to preach Christ to the Arabs.</p> - -<p>From Aden the two American missionaries made it their -first task to explore the points suggested by General Haig for -missionary occupation. One, Mr. Cantine, journeyed north<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_360"></a>360</span>ward -to the country of the Sultan of Lahaj, while the other -sailed along the southern coast in company with Kamil, the -Syrian convert from Islam. This earnest young disciple had -become acquainted with Mr. Cantine in Syria, and early expressed -a desire to join in the work for Arabia. He loved the -Scriptures and never shrank from obstacles which stood in the -way of faith or service. His biography, by Dr. Henry Jessup, -shows what he surrendered for Christ; only the day of days -will show how much he accomplished for Arabia. On May -26th, 1891, Mr. Cantine sailed to visit Muscat and the Persian -Gulf, with the understanding that his co-laborer should meanwhile -attempt the journey to Sana and study the possible openings -for work in Yemen. The news of Bishop French’s death -had already reached Aden. Mr. Cantine tarried at Muscat a -fortnight, after which he visited Bahrein and other ports of the -Gulf, going on finally to Busrah and Bagdad. The importance -of Busrah as a mission centre was evident. In population, -accessibility and strategic location it was superior to other -places in Eastern Arabia. Here seemed to be the place to -drive the opening wedge.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile a twenty-days’ journey to Sana and the villages -of Yemen on the Hodeidah route, had shown the importance -of Sana as a centre of operations, as is shown from the following -written at that time: “It has advantages of large population, -central location, importance of position and healthfulness -of climate. Mail comes weekly and a telegraph connects with -the outside world. Its disadvantages are, a Turkish government -and the consequent difficulties of open and aggressive -work. Like the road from Hodeidah to Sana, it will be uphill -work, through mountains and strong places, but in both cases -you reach Arabia Felix.” On meeting Mr. Cantine at Busrah, -however, the arguments for Yemen were set aside, and it was -agreed that it was best to make Busrah the first headquarters. -It was never thought at the time that Yemen’s highlands would, -after ten years, still be without a missionary.</p> - -<p><a id="THE_OLD_MISSION_HOUSE_AT_BUSRAH"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp98" id="illus-360a" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-360a.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">THE OLD MISSION HOUSE AT BUSRAH.</div> -</div> - -<p><a id="THE_KITCHEN_OF_THE_OLD_MISSION_HOUSE"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowp99" id="illus-360b" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-360b.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">THE KITCHEN OF THE OLD MISSION HOUSE, BUSRAH.</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_361"></a>361</span></p> - -<p>Dr. M. Eustace was then at Busrah, doing dispensary-work -for the poor and acting as physician to the European community. -He welcomed the missionaries and worked with them -heartily until he was transferred to the Church Missionary Society -hospital at Quetta. His departure emphasized the power -of a medical missionary among Moslems, and the missionaries -made a strong plea for a physician to join them. In January, -1892, the Board of Trustees sent out Dr. C. E. Riggs, a man -with testimonials of his standing as a physician and a member -of an Evangelical church, but who, shortly after reaching the -field, avowed his disbelief in the divinity of Christ. His -commission was revoked and he soon returned to America. -After several strange adventures this singular yet lovable man -reached Chicago, was converted under the preaching of D. L. -Moody at the World’s Fair, and died at his home in New -Orleans about a year later. It was a long way to the Father’s -house but proves the power of prayer, and that God never -forgets His own.</p> - -<p>On June 24th of the same year faithful Kamil, rightly named -Abd El Messiah (servant of Christ), was called to his reward. -His illness was so sudden and the circumstances that attended -his death so suspicious that we cannot but believe that he died -a martyr by poison. He was the strongest man of the mission -in controversy with Moslems, and a most lovable character, -so that the report of that year truthfully states, “our loss in -his death is unmeasured.”</p> - -<p>These two successive blows were very serious and now two -other losses followed. Yakoob, another Moslem convert, who -had been in mission employ, and whose wife received baptism -at Busrah, was arrested and prevented from returning to our -field. Also one of the two efficient colporteurs employed by -the mission, left to seek his fortune in America. The continued -illness of Dr. Lansing in the home land and a decrease -in contributions likewise cast a shadow on the work. But faith -grew stronger by trial. In the quarterly letter, near the close<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_362"></a>362</span> -of this year, we read: “The experience of the missionaries -ever since arriving at Aden, their tours along the coast and inland, -the opportunities for work along the Euphrates, the Tigris -and the Gulf, and the deep consciousness that our mission is -called of God to carry the gospel into the interior of Arabia—all -prompt us to make a special plea at this time for additional -workers. There are several points near Busrah where permanent -work should be inaugurated without delay, and places -like Bahrein, Muscat or Sana are equally, perhaps more, open -to the gospel than Busrah itself.... <i>If the Arabian -mission is to be true to its name and purpose, it must occupy -Arabia.</i>” This was followed by an appeal for five new men -and the request that, should means be lacking to send them -out, salaries be reduced, “confident that the best way to increase -contributions is by extending our work and trusting that -God will provide for the future.”</p> - -<p>The mission was at this time passing through a period of determined -opposition and open hostility on the part of the Turkish -local government. Colporteurs were arrested; the Bible -shop sealed up; books confiscated; and a guard placed at the -door of the house occupied by the missionaries. A petition -was sent to the Sublime Porte to expel the mission. But the -opposition was short-lived and the petition never accomplished -its purpose. In December Rev. Peter J. Zwemer joined the -mission in Busrah. The difficulties in the way of securing -a residence were at first very great and frequent change of -abode was detrimental to the work. Arrangements were likewise -made during this year to carry on all the Bible work for -the British and Foreign Bible Society in the region occupied -by the mission.</p> - -<p>The chief event of the next year was the occupation of -Bahrein as a second station. Although the first attempt to open -a Bible shop and to secure a residence on the islands was -fraught with exceeding difficulty and much opposition, the attempt -was successful, and at the close of the first year over two<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_363"></a>363</span> -hundred portions of Scripture had been sold. A journey was -made into the province of Hassa and the eastern threshold of -Arabia was thus crossed for the first time by a missionary. At -Busrah the evangelistic work and Bible circulation made progress, -but medical work was at a standstill. Cholera visited -both stations and greatly interfered with the work; many people -fled from Busrah, and at Bahrein the total number of -deaths was over five thousand. Peter Zwemer kept lonely -watch on the islands at that time; his only servant died of -cholera and he himself could not get away as no ship would -take passengers.</p> - -<p>Early in 1894 the good news came that Dr. James T. -Wyckoff had been appointed to join the mission. Sailing on -January 6th, and going via Constantinople to secure his Turkish -diploma he arrived at Busrah in March. But the joy of -welcoming a medical missionary was short-lived, for after a -brief stay at Busrah he went to Bahrein where a severe attack -of chronic dysentery soon compelled him to return to Busrah -and subsequently to Kerachi and America. Thus the mission -lost its third medical missionary, and his successor did not -come out until the following year.</p> - -<p>Muscat was visited by Peter Zwemer as early as December, -1893, and his reports of this port as a prospective centre for -work in Oman were so encouraging after several exploration -journeys, that it was decided to allow him to occupy the -station.</p> - -<p>During the summer of 1894, the writer, at the request and -expense of the Mildmay Mission to the Jews, made a journey -to Sana, to distribute Hebrew New Testaments. It was also -hoped that it would be possible for him to cross from Sana to -Bahrein, by way of Wady Dauasir. But the theft of all his -money even before reaching Sana and his arrest by the Turks, -prevented the attempt.</p> - -<p>After many trials incident to the economical administration -of the mission at home, negotiations were concluded in June,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_364"></a>364</span> -1894, by which it was transferred to the management and care -of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church. -The distinct existence of the corporation is still preserved, but -the trustees are chosen from among the members of the Foreign -Mission Board. No other departures from former methods -were made, save that the administration was now in experienced -hands and at less expense than formerly. The change -was cordially accepted by nearly all the missionaries and the -contributors; now no one questions its wisdom and benefit.</p> - -<p>The year 1895 was another trying year to the mission, but -there were also blessings. The departure of Rev. James Cantine -to America on furlough, after nearly seven years in Arabia, -necessitated the transferral of the writer to Busrah and so left -Bahrein practically uncared for. The missionaries and native -helpers suffered more than usual from the enervating climate, -and touring from both Muscat and Bahrein was made impossible -for a large part of the year by tribal wars and troubles. -In February the Bedouins attacked Muscat and captured the -town; the place was given over to pillage and over two hundred -lives were lost; the mission-house and shop were looted and -Peter Zwemer took refuge at the British consulate. At Bahrein -a similar trouble threatened for months and terror reigned, -but the disturbance never reached the islands and the unruly -Arabs were punished by English gunboats. At Busrah the -Bible work was stopped by the Turkish authorities; the shop -closed and colporteurs arrested. The arrival of Dr. H. R. -Lankford Worrall at Busrah, on April 21st, with a Turkish -diploma, once more gave the mission the golden key to the -hearts of the people. Dr. Worrall has used it faithfully, although -his severe illness the first summer almost made the mission -despair of the health of doctors.</p> - -<p>Mr. Cantine visited the churches in America and greatly -stimulated interest, prayer and offerings, although no new missionaries -were found willing and suitable for the field.</p> - -<p>At the end of the year Amara was opened as an out-station<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_365"></a>365</span> -in the midst of much opposition but greater blessing. Even -during this year earnest inquirers in this fanatical river village -gladdened the hearts of the workers.</p> - -<p>Work for the women of Eastern Arabia was begun in 1896 -by Amy Elizabeth Wilkes Zwemer, who left the Church Mission -Society mission at Bagdad to be married to Rev. S. M. -Zwemer. First at Busrah, then at Bahrein and Kateef she inaugurated -the work which only a woman can do in Moslem -lands. Extensive tours were made by the colporteurs and by -Peter Zwemer. The entire region north of Muscat as far as -Someil and Rastak, even to Jebel Achdar, was penetrated by -the missionary and colporteurs. One of the latter visited the -so-called “pirate coast” south of Katar and sold over a hundred -portions of Scripture. The following table shows the increase -of Scripture sales by the mission at all of its stations. -More than five-sixths of these copies were sold to Moslems:</p> - - -<table class="small" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">1892</td> -<td class="tdc">1893</td> -<td class="tdc">1894</td> -<td class="tdc">1895</td> -<td class="tdc">1896</td> -<td class="tdc">1897</td> -<td class="tdc">1898</td> -<td class="tdc">1899</td> -<td class="tdc">1900</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc">620</td> -<td class="tdc">825</td> -<td class="tdc">1,760</td> -<td class="tdc">2,313</td> -<td class="tdc">2,805</td> -<td class="tdc">1,779</td> -<td class="tdc">2,010</td> -<td class="tdc">2,464</td> -<td class="tdc">over 3,700</td> -</tr> -</table> - - -<p>At Busrah first fruits were gathered after these years of sowing -in two remarkable cases. A soldier at Amara accepted -Christ and came to Busrah for instruction; this man has since -“suffered the loss of all things” and “witnessed a good confession” -wherever he has been dragged as an exile or driven -as an apostate. Another convert was a middle-aged Persian -who was deeply convicted of sin by reading a copy of Luke’s -gospel in the dispensary at Busrah. He was a consumptive, -and after finding peace in Christ, left Busrah for Shiraz.</p> - -<p>In the autumn Mr. Cantine returned to the field, but the -following February Mr. and Mrs. S. M. Zwemer departed on -furlough, so that, with no reinforcements, the mission-staff remained -insufficient. The work at Bahrein not only stood still, -but, because of the unfaithfulness of a native helper, retrograded. -Muscat was, on the contrary, increasing in impor<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_366"></a>366</span>tance. -A school was begun by Mr. P. J. Zwemer, when -eighteen helpless African boys, rescued from a slave-dhow, -were handed over to his care. The little hand press in the -mission-house sent forth its first message; a tract comparing -Christ and Mohammed, which stirred thought as well as opposition. -It was the first Christian writing ever printed in Arabia -and its simple message is prophetic: “Mohammed or -Christ, on whom do you rely?”</p> - -<p>About this time the American Bible Society took over the -work of Bible distribution at Bahrein and Muscat by an annual -appropriation to the mission which enabled it to extend this -department of work.</p> - -<p>At Busrah the medical work drew many within hearing of -the gospel and Dr. Worrall was able to open work at Nasariyeh. -At Amara the seed once more fell on good soil, and a -small band of inquirers came together for prayer, but the harvest -is not yet.</p> - -<p>At the close of 1897, Rev. F. J. Barny, supported by the -young people of the Marble Collegiate Church, New York -City, came to the field, and began language study.</p> - -<p>The year 1898 is fresh in the memory of all those who are -interested in the Arabian Mission. During it Peter Zwemer, -after having gone to America, was called to his reward and -four new missionaries sent out into the harvest field to sow the -seed of the kingdom. Two of them, Miss Margaret Rice (now -Mrs. Barny) and Rev. George E. Stone, sailed with Mr. and -Mrs. S. M. Zwemer on their return in August. The other two, -Dr. Sharon J. Thoms and Dr. Marion Wells Thoms, of the -University of Michigan, came to the field in December, 1898. -Mr. Stone has now also gone to his reward—the third of the -Arabian Mission to lay down his life for Arabia.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_367"></a>367</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XXXIV">XXXIV<br /> - -<small>IN MEMORIAM—PETER J. ZWEMER AND GEO. E. STONE</small></h2> -</div> - - -<p>A skillful and loving hand has laid a wreath of immortelles -on the unknown grave of Kamil; his biography -will live. We can only briefly record our love and admiration -for those other two of the Arabian Mission, who “loved -not their lives unto the death,” but “hazarded their lives for -the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Peter John Zwemer</span> was born at South Holland, Illinois, -near Chicago, on September 2d, 1868. His childhood was -spent in a loving Christian home surrounded by gracious influences -and the prayers of godly parents. In 1880 he entered -the preparatory department of Hope College, Holland, Michigan, -and was finally graduated from the college in 1888. He was -the only one of his class to choose the foreign field, and for it -he sought special preparation after graduation, by work as -Bible colporteur in Western Pennsylvania and New York, and -a year of teaching in Iowa. In 1892 he was graduated from -the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, and on September -14th, of the same year, was ordained at Grand Rapids, Michigan, -and sailed for Arabia on October 19th. From the day -of his arrival on the field to the day of his death his first -thought was gospel work for the Arabs. He was of a practical -turn of mind, and had no visionary ideas nor desire for martyrdom, -but a sturdy, steady purpose to make his life tell. He -was eager to meet men, keen to grasp opportunities, a cosmopolitan -in spirit always and everywhere. A student of character -rather than of books, he preferred to make two difficult -journeys rather than report one. He loved to teach and knew -how to do it. Sympathy for the weak and suffering and a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_368"></a>368</span> -hatred for all shams were prominent traits. He endeared himself -even to those from whom he differed in opinion or conduct -by his whole-hearted sincerity and earnest advocacy of -his views. Arabia was to him a school of faith; his Christian -character ripened into full fruitage through much suffering. -Mr. Cantine wrote of him:</p> - -<p>“Our personal relations were perhaps more intimate than -those usually known by the missionaries of our scattered stations. -I was at Busrah to welcome him when in 1892 he responded -to our first call for volunteers, and was also the one -to say good-bye a few months ago as he left behind him the -rocks and hills of Muscat and Oman, among which the precious -cruse of his strength had been broken for the Master’s -service. His course was more trying than that of the others -of our company, as he came among us when the impulse and -enthusiasm which attach to the opening of a new work were -beginning to fail, and before our experience had enabled us to -lessen some of the trials and discomforts of a pioneer effort. -A thorough American, appreciating and treasuring the memory -of the civilization left behind, he yet readily adapted himself -to the conditions here found. Of a sensitive nature, he keenly -felt any roughness from friend or foe, but I never knew him on -that account to show any bitterness or to shirk the performance -of any recognized duty.</p> - -<p>“Of those qualities which make for success in our field he -had not a few. His social instincts led him at once to make -friends among the Arabs, and while his vocabulary was still -very limited, he would spend hours in the coffee-shops and in -the gathering-places of the town. His exceptional musical -talents also attracted and made for him many acquaintances -among those he was seeking to reach, besides proving a constant -pleasure to his associates and a most important aid in all -our public services. And many a difficulty was surmounted -by his hopefulness and buoyancy of disposition, which even -pain and sickness could not destroy.”</p> - -<p><a id="FOUR_MISSIONARY_MARTYRS_OF_ARABIA"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowe62_5" id="illus-368"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-368.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">FOUR MISSIONARY MARTYRS OF ARABIA. -Hon. Ion Keith Falconer<br /> -Rev. Peter J. Zwemer<br /> -Bishop Valpy French<br /> -Kamil Abdel Messiah</div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_369"></a>369</span></p> - -<p>His short period of service in Arabia was longer than that -of either Keith Falconer or Bishop French and although their -lives have perhaps exerted a much wider influence, his has left -larger fruitage on Arabian soil. Of his sickness and death the -Rev. H. N. Cobb, D. D., Secretary of the mission wrote:</p> - -<p>“When the station at Muscat was opened in 1893 it was assigned -to him. From that time until May of the present year -Muscat was his home. There he remained alone most of the -time. Frequent attacks of fever prostrated him, unsanitary -and unpleasant conditions surrounded him, the heat, constant -and intense, often overwhelmed him; still he clung -heroically to his post, uttering no word of complaint, and -quitting it only when mission business made it necessary, or -tours were to be undertaken along the coast or in the interior, -or when prolonged attacks of fever and the preservation of life -made a limited absence imperative. When one considers all -that he endured, the wonder is not that he died, but that he -lived as long as he did. No higher heroism fought, suffered -and at last succumbed at Santiago. He had become so much -reduced by repeated attacks of fever and rheumatism that it -was thought wise last year that he should leave Arabia and -come home. His desire was to remain until next year, 1899, -but in the early part of this year it became evident that he -must not remain. When in the latter part of May he left -Arabia, his weakness was so great that he was carried on board -the steamer. On the homeward way, though writing back -cheerfully concerning his improvement to those whom he had -left behind, he grew gradually worse, and when he arrived in -this country on the evening of July 12, was taken immediately -to the Presbyterian Hospital through the kind assistance of a -student for orders in the Roman Catholic Church. Those who -have visited him there, and they have been many, have been -struck by his cheerfulness, his hopeful courage, his anxious desire -to recover, that he might return to his field and work, and -yet his willing submission to his Father’s will.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_370"></a>370</span></p> - -<p>He clung to life with a grip of steel and laughed at the idea -the doctors had of his approaching death because he could not -believe that his work was done. “I have done nothing yet -and when I go back this time I will be ready to begin work,” -were his words. Yet he had no fear of death. His eye never -turned away from Arabia; he longed to plant the plough once -more in the stony soil of Oman and to teach the most ignorant -the way of life. From his dying bed he sent to the committee -a report regarding changes necessary in the house at Muscat. -His hand, almost too weak to hold a pen, wrote on October -7th: “Dear father—I am slowly but surely improving and -may be home soon. Now the board has authorized me to -complete the building-fund. I have just secured $100 for a -Muscat touring boat. Dr. and Mrs. Thoms sailed this morning for -Arabia, <i>laus Deo!</i> I felt sorry I could not divide myself -and go with them ... patiently longing I wait His -time.”</p> - -<p>Even later than this, when he could no longer write, he -dictated letters regarding the work at home and in the field. -On the evening of Tuesday, October 18th, 1898, six weeks -after his thirtieth birthday he quietly fell asleep. “His time” -had come. After a brief service, the body was taken by loving -hands to Holland, Michigan, and laid to rest in the sure -and certain hope of a glorious resurrection. But his heart -rests in Arabia and his memory will remain longest where he -suffered most and where his fellowship was so blessed.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O blest communion! fellowship divine!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We feebly struggle, they in glory shine</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet all are one in Thee for all are Thine.</div> - <div class="verse indent16">Hallelujah!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Steals on the ear the distant triumph-song</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And hearts are brave again and arms are strong.</div> - <div class="verse indent17">Hallelujah!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_371"></a>371</span></p> -<p><span class="smcap">George E. Stone.</span></p> - -<p>On the twenty-sixth of June, 1899, George E. Stone died of -heat apoplexy at the coast town of Birka a few miles east of -Muscat. On Thursday the twenty-second of that month, in -company with a colporteur, he left Muscat, for a few days -change. He was in fairly good health, although suffering from -boils. Monday morning he had a little fever; in the afternoon -it came again and in a few hours he had departed. His -body was taken to Muscat by the colporteur and there buried -near the grave of Bishop French.</p> - -<p>Rev. George E. Stone was born on September 1st, 1873, at -Mexico, Oswego County, New York. He was graduated from -Hamilton College in 1895, and from the Auburn Theological -Seminary in 1898. Toward the close of his studies his thoughts -were drawn to the foreign field and he became a “student volunteer.” -The reason for his decision was characteristic of the -man. As he himself expressed it in his inimitable five-minute -speech at the General Synod: “I tried in every possible way -to avoid going to the foreign field but I had no peace. I go -from a sense of obedience.” He first heard of the special -needs of Arabia through a former classmate who represented -Union Seminary at the New Brunswick Inter-Seminary Conference -in November, 1897. Shortly after he wrote for information -about the field, and without further hesitancy he applied -and was accepted. Ordained by the Presbytery of Cayuga at -Syracuse, he sailed with the mission party in August, 1898.</p> - -<p>George Stone was a man of much promise; altogether a -character of one piece without seam or rent. Sturdy, manly, -straightforward, humble and honest to the core. He was -entirely unconventional and did not know what it was to try -to make a good impression. He was simply natural. With -native tact and Yankee wit was joined a keen sense of duty -and a willingness to plod. Confessing that he was never in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_372"></a>372</span>tended -for a linguist he yet, by sheer application, made remarkably -rapid progress in Arabic. He made friends readily and -was faithful to sow beside all waters. No one could travel -with him and not know that he was a fisher of men; yet he -was never obtrusive in his method. He had a splendid constitution, -and looked forward to a long life in Arabia, but God -willed otherwise.</p> - -<p>He was at Bahrein from October 9th until February 14th, -when he left for Muscat to take the place of Rev. F. J. Barny, -who had been ill with typhoid and was going on sick-leave to -India. He was the only person available at the time, although -it was not a pleasant task for a novice to be suddenly called to -take care of a station of which he knew little more than the -name. Without a word of demur he left Bahrein at three -hours’ notice and sailed for Muscat. There he remained alone, -but faithful unto death, until June, when Rev. James Cantine -arrived to take charge of the work. His letters were always -cheerful; he seemed to grasp the situation, and with all its -difficulties to see light above the clouds. The following sentences -from a few of his letters show what sort of man he was. -They were written in ordinary correspondence and with no idea -that the words would ever be treasured:</p> - -<p>“I was pretty certain that I should be sent to Muscat later -on, but had no idea of going so soon. However, it is all right. -Anything that has been prayed over as much as your decisions -at Busrah, must have been directed of God, and I have been -under His orders for some time.... I have had two or -three fevers, but they are small affairs, sick one day and well -the next. No further news. I can only add my thankfulness -to God for the way He has led me through the last two months -and for giving me a share from the beginning in actual mission-work.... -Many thanks for the report. I can learn a -great deal from it to help out my ignorance. I do feel like a -baby before this great work but, as the darkies used to sing -the Lord is ‘inching me along.’ ...</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_373"></a>373</span></p> - -<p>“Pray for me that I may have wisdom and grace to carry -this business through. I want it settled right.”</p> - -<p>To his Auburn friends he wrote this in a characteristic letter:</p> - -<p>“You ask what I think of it now that I am on the spot. -First: that the need has not been exaggerated, and that Mohammedanism -is as bad as it is painted. Second: that we -have a splendid fighting chance here in Arabia, and the land -is open enough so that we can enter if we will. If a man -never got beyond the Bahrein Islands he would have a parish -of 50,000 souls. Third: that on account of the ignorance of -the people they must be taught by word of mouth and therefore -if we are to reach them all, we must have many helpers. -Fourth: that I am glad I came to Arabia, and that to me has -been given a part in this struggle. I do firmly believe that the -strength of Islam has been overestimated, and that if ever the -Church can be induced to throw her full weight against it, it -will be found an easier conquest than we imagine—<i>not but -what it will cost lives</i>, it has always been so, but I do believe -that Islam is doomed.”</p> - -<p>Little did he think, perhaps, <i>whose</i> life it would first cost. -Will his call be heeded and will the Church, will you, help to -throw the whole weight of your prayers against Islam? “Except -a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth -alone, but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit.”</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The seed must die before the corn appears</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Out of the ground in blade and fruitful ears.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Low have those ears before the sickle lain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ere thou canst treasure up the golden grain.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The grain is crushed before the bread is made;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the bread broke ere life to man conveyed.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh, be content to die, to be laid low,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And to be crushed, and to be broken so,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">If thou upon God’s table may be bread,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Life-giving food for souls an hungered.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_374"></a>374</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XXXV">XXXV<br /> - -<small>PROBLEMS OF THE ARABIAN FIELD</small></h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“A word as to the task your mission attempts. It is to me the hardest -in the whole mission-field. To conquer Mohammedanism is to capture -Satan’s throne and I think it involves the greatest conflict Christianity has -ever known. In attacking Arabia you aim at the citadel of supreme error -occupied by the last enemy that shall bow to the kingship of Christ.”—<i>Rev. -W. A. Essery</i>, Hon. Secretary of the Turkish Mission Aid Society.</p> - -<p>“While the difficulties in the way of missionary work in lands under -Mohammedan rule may well appear to the eye of sense most formidable, -this meeting is firmly persuaded, that, so long as the door of access to individual -Mohammedans is open, so long it is the clear and bounden -duty of the Church of Christ to make use of its opportunities for delivering -the gospel message to them, in full expectation that the power of the -Holy Spirit will, in God’s good time, have a signal manifestation in the -triumph of Christianity in those lands.”—<i>Resolution of the Church Missionary -Society</i>, May 1st, 1888.</p></div> - - -<p>The problem of missionary work in Arabia is twofold: (1) -the general problem of Mohammedanism as a political-religious -system which Arabia has in common with all Moslem -lands; and (2) the special problems or difficulties which pertain -to Arabia in particular.</p> - -<p>The general problem of missions to Moslems is too vast and -important to be treated here. Dr. George Smith says that “the -great work to which the providence of God summons the church -in the second century of modern missions is that of evangelizing -the Mohammedans.” It is <i>the</i> missionary problem of the -future. Dr. H. H. Jessup, who speaks of it as “a work of surpassing -difficulty, which will require a new baptism of apostolic -wisdom and energy, faith and love” gives the elements of the -problem in his book.<a id="FNanchor_150" href="#Footnote_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a> As unfavorable features he enumerates,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_375"></a>375</span> -(1) the union of the temporal and spiritual power, (2) the -divorce between morality and religion, (3) Ishmaelitic intolerance, -(4) destruction of true family life, (5) the degradation -of woman, (6) gross immorality, (7) untruthfulness, (8) misrepresentation -of Christian doctrine, and (9) the aggressive -spirit of Islam. Among the favorable features he names: (1) -belief in the unity of God, (2) reverence for the Old and New -Testament, (3) and for Christ, (4) hatred of idolatry, (5) -abstinence from intoxicating drink, (6) the growing influence -of Christian nations, (7) the universal belief of the Moslems -that in the latter days there will be a universal apostasy from -Islam. In some respects the problem has changed since Dr. -Jessup’s book was written but in its main outlines it remains the -same.</p> - -<p>The problem of Arabia as a mission-field can best be studied -by considering in order: the land itself as regards its accessibility; -the climate and other special difficulties; the present -missionary force; the methods suited to the field; and the -right men for the work. The chapters on the geography of -the peninsula show how different are the various provinces and -what are the strategic centres in each. It is generally considered -both a good missionary policy and a true apostolic -principle to work out from the <i>cities</i> as centres of population -and influence. This is especially necessary in Arabia where -the population is scattered and largely nomadic. All nomads -come to some city or village for their supplies at frequent intervals -or, if they are independent of a foreign market, they bring -their produce to the cities. This by way of preface.</p> - -<p>First, what parts of Arabia are really <i>accessible</i> to missionary -operations? (1) The Sinaitic peninsula with the adjoining -coast of Hejaz nearly as far as Yanbo; the population is mostly -Bedouin but a good centre for work would be the Egyptian -quarantine station of Tor in the Gulf of Suez. (2) Aden and -the surrounding region under British protection, with a population -of perhaps 200,000 souls. (3) The entire south coast<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_376"></a>376</span> -from Aden to Makalla and Shehr with its <i>hinterland</i>; this -region has been freely visited by explorers and travellers, men -and women; the people are quite friendly and the natural base -of operations would be the town of Makalla. (4) Oman with -its coast-towns and hill-country, everywhere accessible; wherever -missionaries have tried to enter they have met with a welcome -above all expectations. (5) The so-called “pirate-coast” in -East Arabia between Ras el Kheima and Abu Thubi; many -villages, all under British subsidy and with resident native -agents. (6) The islands of Bahrein.</p> - -<p>All of these regions are outside of <i>Turkish</i> Arabia and are -more or less under the influence of Great Britain so that every -kind of missionary work is possible. No passports are required -for travelling; no special diplomas for the right to practice -medicine; no censorship of books; no official espionage or -prohibition of residence.</p> - -<p>In Turkish Arabia the case is different, but it would be very -incorrect to say that Turkish Arabia is inaccessible. “The -Turks are no doubt,” as General Haig remarks, “a great obstacle, -but we must give them their due, and admit that they -are not nearly so intolerant as some European States, including -Russia.” Only one portion of Turkish Arabia seems, at present, -to be wholly inaccessible, namely, the two sacred cities -Mecca and Medina. At present, we say, for it does not seem -possible that these twin-cities would long remain closed if the -church had faith to approach their doors and were ready to enter.</p> - -<p>Other portions of Turkish Arabia are accessible, at least to -some extent. (1) The entire coast of Hejaz is accessible; two -cities, Jiddah, and Hodeidah, are specially suited for medical -mission work; while it is not at all improbable that with proper -faith and kindly tact, the lovely town of Taif, that garden of -Mecca, would harbor a medical missionary. Doughty’s experiences -seem to indicate that Taif is not considered holy -ground.<a id="FNanchor_151" href="#Footnote_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a> (2) Yemen, the Arabia Felix indeed; with a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_377"></a>377</span> -splendid climate, a superior Arab population, numerous villages -and cities, and with marvellous fertility of soil. Surely these -highlands will not remain forever under the rod of oppression; -when the hour of deliverance comes, every village should have -a mission-school and every city a mission-station. Even now -under the Turks work is possible for the large <i>Jewish</i> population. -(3) Hassa with its capital Hofhoof and Katif on the -coast. (4) The vilayets of Busrah and Bagdad. These four -regions in Turkish Arabia are accessible, with three limitations -to missionary-work:—Every missionary must have proper passports; -no medical missionary can practice without a Constantinople -diploma; and no books or Bibles can be sold unless -they have been examined by a censor of the press and bear the -seal of the government. The passport matter is awkward at -times but is not an insurmountable barrier; where the government -considers travelling safe, passports are always given. The -medical diploma requirement is not different from the law of -France and other countries; once in possession of such a diploma, -the leverage power of the Christian physician is increased -rather than limited. The third restriction prevents the -distribution of all controversial literature but admits the Bible -and many other Christian books; it is rather burdensome and -irritating to one’s patience but does not shut the door to real -missionary work. Every copy of the Arabic Scriptures printed -at Beirut bears the <i>imprimatur</i> of the Ottoman Government—the -sign and seal of the “Caliph” that the Word of God shall -have free course in his tottering empire.</p> - -<p>Finally there is the vast interior—Asir, Nejran, Yemama, -Nejd, Jebel Shammar—is that too accessible? The whole -region is free from Ottoman rule and, for the greater part, under -one independent prince, Abd-ul-Aziz, the successor of Ibn -Rashid. But for the rest the question must remain unanswered -until a missionary has attempted to enter these regions and -has brought back a report. For travellers the whole of the interior -has proved accessible since the days of Palgrave; and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_378"></a>378</span> -the presumptive evidence is that a missionary could also penetrate -everywhere even if he were not at first allowed to settle in -any of the towns. I have not the least doubt that a properly -qualified medical missionary with a thorough knowledge of the -language would find not only an open door but a warm welcome -in the capital of Nejd or even at Riad.</p> - -<p>Regarding the general accessibility of Arabia, General Haig -wrote in his report as follows: “There is no difficulty then -about preaching the gospel in Arabia if men can be found to -face the consequences. The real difficulty would be the protection -of the converts. Most probably they would be exposed -to violence and death. The infant church might be a martyr -church at first, like that of Uganda, but that would not prevent -the spread of the truth or its ultimate triumph.”</p> - -<p>The climate of Arabia is, at present, an obstacle to missionary -work, but in the mountain ranges of Oman and Yemen as -well as in all the interior plateau of Nejd a healthful, bracing -climate prevails. Now, alas, while all work is still confined to -the coast, we have perhaps one of the most trying climates in -the world. The intense heat of summer (often 110° Fahrenheit -in the shade) is aggravated by the humidity of the atmosphere, -and the dust raised by every wind. In the winter, from December -to March, the winds in the northern part of the gulf -and the Red Sea, are often cold and cutting and although the -temperature is more suited at that time to Europeans and -Americans, it appears to be less healthy for natives. The so-called -gulf-fever of the remittent type is very dangerous and -convalescence is at times only possible by leaving the gulf. -Cholera and smallpox are not uncommon. Ophthalmia is rife. -Prickly heat in aggravated form, boils, and all the insect -plagues of Egypt are a cause of suffering in their season.</p> - -<p>Moslem fanaticism is not peculiar to Arabia nor is it more -intense or universal here than in any other purely Mohammedan -land. The fanaticism of the Arabs has been grossly exaggerated. -The Wahabis represent the extreme of exclusiveness<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_379"></a>379</span> -and prejudice, but even among them it is possible for a missionary -to preach Christ and read the Bible. Personal violence -to the messenger of the gospel has proved in ten years experience, -almost unknown in any part of Arabia visited by missionaries. -Sometimes Bibles and books are collected by a -fanatical Mullah and consigned to the flames or the oblivion of -an upper shelf in his house. The fellows of the baser sort -perpetrate insults and annoyances at times in village-work or -refuse hospitality. But we, in Arabia, have never met with -the strong anti-foreign feeling such as seems to be prevalent, -for example, in China. The prejudice is seldom against the -dress or manner or speech of the foreigner; even his food is -considered clean and no Arab would refuse to share his meal -with a Christian traveller. But there <i>is</i> often a strong prejudice -against certain aspects of Christian doctrine, especially if -crudely or unwisely put. In an Arab coffee-shop it would be -unsafe as well as unwise to use the words “Son of God,” -“death of Christ,” “Trinity” etc., without a previous explanation. -Yet on the whole the Arabs are friendly to any stranger -or guest and this friendliness is especially strong toward -Englishmen and on the coast, because of the clear contrast between -English and Ottoman or Arab rule. Commerce too with -its general integrity and “the word of an Englishman” has in -a sense been the handmaid of missions by disarming prejudice -and opening Arab eyes to the superiority of western civilization.</p> - -<p>From a missionary standpoint the population of Arabia can -best be divided into the illiterate and those who can read. -The former class are in the vast majority and include all the -Bedouins with exceedingly few exceptions. Taking the population -at eight million, to say that one half a million could read -would be a large estimate. On this account work for those -who are able to read, by means of colportage and bookshops, -may be too highly rated as to its <i>extensive</i> result; its -<i>intensive</i> value no one will question.</p> - -<p>The problem of reaching the nomad population is a very serious<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_380"></a>380</span> -one. The data for a correct theory of work among them are -yet to be collected. Experience of work among them has been -very limited; indeed the only work of importance was that of -Samuel Van Tassel in North Arabia. As a class they are less -religious than the town or agricultural Arabs. One who has -studied the subject writes: “The Arabs [Bedouins] remain Mohammedans -simply because they know of nothing better; the -Bedouins are Moslems only in name observing the prescribed -forms in the neighborhood of the towns, but speedily casting -them aside on regaining the desert. Yet there are men among -them not without reverent thoughts of the Creator, derived -from the contemplation of His works, thoughts which, according -to Palmer, take sometimes the form of solemn but simple -prayer.” The character of missionary work among this nomad -population (perhaps one-fourth or fifth of the population of the -peninsula) will be very similar to that of James Gilmour among -the Mongols; and it will require men of his stamp to carry it -on successfully.</p> - -<p><a id="Population_Touched_by_Mission_Effort"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowe28_4375" id="illus-380"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-380.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Population Touched by Mission Effort.</span> -<table class="small" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Aden, etc.,</td> -<td class="tdr">100,000.</td> -<td class="tdl">Muscat,</td> -<td class="tdr">20,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Bahrein,</td> -<td class="tdr">60,000.</td> -<td class="tdl">Busrah and Bagdad,</td> -<td class="tdr">520,000</td> -</tr> -</table></div> -</div> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_381"></a>381</span></p> - -<p><i>The present missionary force in Arabia is utterly inadequate -to supply the needs even of that small portion of the field they -have occupied.</i> There are only <i>four</i> points on a coast of four -thousand miles where there are missionaries. There is not a single -missionary over ten miles inland from this coast. No missionary -has ever crossed the peninsula in either direction. The -total number of foreign missionaries in Arabia, is less than a -dozen—twelve workers, men and women, let us say, for a population -of 8,000,000 souls.</p> - -<p><a id="Area_Visited_by_Missionaries"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowe29_9375" id="illus-381"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-381.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="smcap">Area Visited by Missionaries.</span><br /> -(square miles.) -<table class="small" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Aden, etc.,</td> -<td class="tdl">8,000</td> -<td class="tdl">Muscat,</td> -<td class="tdl">600</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Bahrein,</td> -<td class="tdl">400</td> -<td class="tdl">Busrah and Bagdad,</td> -<td class="tdl">71,000</td> -</tr> -</table></div> -</div> - -<p>The Keith Falconer Mission is not as strong in its numbers -as when Keith Falconer died. The Arabian Mission has only -recently received enough reinforcement to man its three stations -permanently. There has been too much of the spirit of experiment -instead of the spirit of enterprise; a corporal’s guard -went out to attack the chief citadel of the enemy. Bishop -French was <i>alone</i> when he died at Muscat. The Arabian -Mission waited years before they received reinforcements. -What is the spiritual need of Arabia to-day? Of the total area<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_382"></a>382</span> -of the peninsula only about <i>one-twelfth</i> is in any way touched -by missionary effort. This does not mean that one-twelfth of the -area is covered by mission-stations and touring, but that in -some way or other about one-twelfth of the peninsula is “occupied” -by organized mission-work in its plan and purpose, -day by day. As to the proportion of missionaries to the population -<i>ten men out of eleven have no opportunity in this neglected -country to hear the gospel even if they would</i>.</p> - -<p>The only part of Arabia that is fairly well occupied is the -River-country—that is the two vilayets of Bagdad and Busrah. -Here there are two stations and two out-stations on the rivers; -colporteurs and missionaries regularly visit the larger villages; -several native workers are in regular employ and the Bible -Society is active. Yet in these two vilayets nothing has ever -yet been done for the large Bedouin population, and there are -only six foreign missionaries, men and women, to a population -(Turkish census) of 1,050,000 souls.</p> - -<p>Looking at Arabia by provinces: Hejaz has no missionary; -Yemen (with the exception of Sheikh Othman and Aden) has -no missionary; Hadramaut has no missionary; Nejd has no -missionary; Hassa has no missionary; Jebel Shammar and all -the northern desert have no missionary; Oman has <i>one</i> missionary. -Again, the following towns and cities are accessible, but -have not one witness for Christ: Sana, Hodeidah, Menakha, -Zebid, Damar, Taiz, Ibb, with forty smaller towns in Yemen; -Makallah, Shehr, and Shibam in Hadramaut; Rastak, Someil, -Sohar, Sur, Abu Thubi, Dabai, Sharka and other important -towns in Oman; not to speak of the important towns of Nejd -and in Mesopotamia, still without any missionaries and never -visited by an evangelist.</p> - -<p>Arabia is in truth a neglected field, even now. Thus far the -work has been only preliminary; the evangelization of Arabia -must yet begin; not until every province is entered and every -one of the strategic points specified is occupied can we truly -speak of Arabia as a mission-field. Nor is the project vision<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_383"></a>383</span>ary. -Given the men and the means there is not the slightest -reason why the next decade should not see the entire peninsula -the field for some sort of missionary effort. The doors are -open, or they will open to the knock of faith. God still lives -and works.</p> - -<p>Regarding the best methods of mission-work in Arabia the -experience of missionaries in other Moslem lands is of the -greatest value. The story of the Church Missionary Society -in the Punjab, that of the North Africa Mission, and above all -the work of the Rhenish Society in Sumatra should be thoroughly -familiar to every Arabian missionary. Medical missions -have their special place and power, but also their special difficulties -in pioneer work like that in Arabia. Surgery is worth -infinitely more than medicine among a people like the Arabs, -where fatalism and neglect of the sick make the science of -medicine of doubtful result in so many cases. “Kill or cure” -rather than prolonged treatment, suits the Moslem palate. But -a skillful surgeon with a Turkish diploma holds the key to -every door in the entire peninsula. There is not one mission-hospital -in Arabia! Surely such centres as Bagdad, Busrah, -Bahrein, Sana, Jiddah, Hodeidah and Hofhoof should have -these acknowledged powerful methods of evangelization. At -Aden and Muscat there are Indian Government hospitals.</p> - -<p>Educational work is still absent or in its infancy as regards -the Moslem population, so that there are no data from which to -formulate theories as to its success. In some parts of Arabia -schools might not be permitted by the government; everywhere -they would necessarily at the outset be very elementary.</p> - -<p>Christian women, as experience has proved both in Yemen -and East Arabia, are welcomed everywhere. With or without -medical qualifications, but with hearts of love and sympathy -for the poor, the suffering and the miserable, they can enter -every house or hut. Even in the black tents of Kedar there -are aching hearts and wretched homes to which the gospel of -peace and love can alone bring relief. Lady Ann Blunt and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_384"></a>384</span> -Mrs. Theodore Bent have proved what women can do in Arabia -for the sake of science; will there be no Christian women who -will penetrate as far inland for the sake of their Saviour?</p> - -<p>Colportage is an approved mission-method especially in -Arabia, since the Bible and a full line of educational and religious -literature is ready to our hand from the Syrian and -Egyptian missions. In Yemen this work would be especially -useful and practicable, but there it has scarcely been attempted -systematically. The problem is to find men of the right stamp -for the work. Men who are “willing to endure hardness as -good soldiers of Jesus Christ,” with tact and good temper and -the ability to talk with the simple-minded. Love is worth -more than learning in a colporteur. Good health and a clean -Turkish passport are two other requisites. Even this method -of work is in its infancy; there are many open doors for the -Word of God that have never yet been entered.</p> - -<p>Under evangelistic work come the problems of street-preaching, -touring, and the use or abuse of controversy. The best -place for preaching at stations is the mission-house itself, after -the example of Paul (Acts xxviii. 30, 31). On tours or in -village-work the <i>mejlis</i> of the sheikh or the public coffee-shop -makes a capital pulpit. In a small hand-book for missionaries -to Moslems by Rev. Arthur Brinckman, now out of print,<a id="FNanchor_152" href="#Footnote_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a> I -find the following admirable hints on public preaching to Moslems -which apply to Arabia also:</p> - -<p>“If possible always address your audience from above. Sitting -down is sometimes better than standing; you are not so -likely to get excited, the attitude is less war-like in appearance. -Be with your back to a wall if possible; there are many reasons -for this.</p> - -<p>“When drawn into argument, keep on praying that you may -speak slowly, and with effect. When asked a question do not -answer quickly—if you do, you will be looked on as a sharp<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_385"></a>385</span> -controversialist only; think over your answer first, and give it -most kindly and slowly. If possible always quote a passage -near the beginning or end of a Koran chapter and there will -be less delay in finding it.”</p> - -<p><a id="THE_BIBLE_SHOP_AT_BUSRAH"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowe62_5" id="illus-384a"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-384a.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">THE BIBLE SHOP AT BUSRAH.</div> -</div> - -<p><a id="INTERIOR_OF_A_NATIVE_SHOP"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowe62_5" id="illus-384b"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-384b.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">INTERIOR OF A NATIVE SHOP.</div> -</div> - -<p>The question of the right place of <i>controversy</i> or whether it -should have a place at all in mission-work among Moslems is of -the highest importance. Opinions differ decidedly among those -who are pillars of the truth. The best and briefest argument -<i>against</i> the use of controversy is that given by Spurgeon in one -of his early sermons at New Park Street Chapel.<a id="FNanchor_153" href="#Footnote_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a> He argues in -brief that a missionary is a witness, not a debater, and is only -responsible for proclaiming the gospel by his lips and by his life.</p> - -<p>There is truth in this, but on the other hand even the apostles -“disputed” in the synagogues with the Jews, and from -the days of saintly Martyn (not to say Raymond Lull), until -now, the Christian missionary has been compelled by the very -force of circumstances to vindicate the honor of Christ and -establish the evidences of Christianity by means of controversy. -When, in July, 1864, the Turkish government persuaded Sir -Henry Bulwer to sign the death-warrant to all missionary work -among Moslems in the Turkish empire by the memorandum -that made controversy a crime, the fact was immediately recognized. -Rev. J. Ridgeway, then the editorial secretary of the -Church Missionary Society, wrote an able paper in the <i>Church -Missionary Intelligencer</i> on the theme: “<i>Missionary work as -regards Mohammedans impossible if controversy be interdicted.</i>” -“By controversy,” he wrote, “we understand not acrimonious -and irritating recriminations, which, well aware how unbecoming -and injurious they are, the missionaries have always -eschewed, but that calm investigation of conflicting religious -systems that is indispensable to the decision of the important -question—which is true and which is false?”<a id="FNanchor_154" href="#Footnote_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_386"></a>386</span></p> - -<p>It is only in this sense that controversy is justifiable; and -this kind of controversy, whether by the printed page or word -of mouth, has not proved unfruitful of good results. Sir -William Muir gives a complete synopsis of all Mohammedan -attacks on the Christian faith and the replies made in defence -of Christianity; his criticisms of the books in question are also -of great interest.<a id="FNanchor_155" href="#Footnote_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a> Since that date there have been new attacks -and new apologies both from the Moslem side and from that of -the missionary. As a plough breaks up the soil before the -seed is sown so this kind of literature and argument will often -break up the fallow ground of Moslem hearts for the seed of -God’s Word. Even awakened fanaticism or active opposition -is more hopeful than absolute stagnation of thought and petrifaction -of feeling. How to awaken the Moslem conscience is -the real problem.</p> - -<p>It is less important to consider the attitude of the Turkish -rulers toward Christians than the attitude of the Moslem mind -toward Christianity, as regards Arabia’s evangelization. The -prevailing attitude of the Moslem mind, in any particular part -of Arabia, toward Christianity practically decides the fate of a -convert. Were Moslems all strictly adherent to their traditions -and the law regarding renegades from Islam, every convert -would be a martyr and every inquirer would disappear. The -Ottoman code of Moslem law gives specific directions for the -trial and execution of the renegade from the faith. “He is to -have three distinct offers of life if he will return to the faith -and time for reflection, after each offer, is to be given him. -If he remains obdurate he is to be executed by strangulation -and then his head is to be cut off and placed under his arm. -His body is thus to be exposed three days in the most public -place.”<a id="FNanchor_156" href="#Footnote_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a> But, thank God, Moslems do not strictly adhere to -this law. In this, as in other respects, many are better than<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_387"></a>387</span> -their religion and superior to their prophet. Converts in that -part of Arabia which is under English rule or protection are as -safe as they are in India; which does not mean that they are -entirely free from persecution. In Turkish Arabia the law is -carried out by secret murder, or by banishment; yet not in -every case, for even there inquirers and converts, if not active -or prominent, have remained for a time unmolested. What -the result would be in the independent Moslem states of Arabia -we do not know yet.</p> - -<p>The Berlin Treaty was intended to be the Magna Charta of -Christian liberty in the Turkish empire, but the Turk has not -kept the compact. Its provisions were too galling for Moslem -pride and prestige; reforms never got beyond the paper stage. -The massacres of 1894 to 1896 proved that the Sultan is still -the Pope of a religious fraternity and king of a political empire -based on the forty-seventh chapter of the Koran: “When ye -encounter the unbelievers strike off their heads until you have -made a great slaughter of them.” And the inaction of all the -Christian powers at that time proved that it is vain to put confidence -in princes. But in spite of all possible government opposition -or even the martyrdom of every individual convert -“so long as the door of access to individual Mohammedans is -open, so long it is the clear and bounden duty of the church -of Christ to make use of its opportunities for delivering the -gospel message to them.”</p> - -<p>The attitude of the Arab mind is not universally hostile to -Christianity. The vast majority are indifferent to religion in -any form. “What shall we eat and what shall we drink and -wherewithal shall we be clothed,”—is the sum of all their -thoughts. The Arab merchant serves Mammon with all his -heart seven days a week. Religion is an ornament and a conventionality; -he wears it like his flowing overgarment and it -fits him just as loosely. He thinks it scarcely worth while to -discuss questions of belief. Every one has their own religion, -is a remark one often hears in Arabia. It is a faint echo of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_388"></a>388</span> -all-embracing tolerance of the days of ignorance when three -hundred and sixty idols, including an image of Christ and the -virgin, filled the Kaaba!</p> - -<p>Then there are some thoughtful men who know better,—seekers -after truth,—and who feel that there are strong points -in Christianity and weak points in Islam which have not been -duly considered. One meets examples of this class everywhere -in all stations of life and in most unexpected quarters. -In the heart of Yemen I met a Mullah who had a wonderful -knowledge of the Arabic Bible; and the copy he showed me -was an imperfect translation by Richard Watson dated 1825! -Another prominent Mohammedan in Eastern Arabia recently -expressed his opinion that the Christ of the New Testament -never intended to found a new religion, but to introduce -everywhere <i>spiritual</i> worship of the God of Abraham; he said -that a long and independent study of the Bible had led him -to this opinion.</p> - -<p>The steady increase of the circulation of Scriptures in Arabia -is also an indication which way the current is drifting. Rev. -George E. Stone, a few weeks before his death, writing of the -Bible circulation at Muscat said, “I don’t know when the explosion -is coming but we are getting the dynamite under this -rock of Islam and some day God will touch it off.” The -Bible in Arabia will indeed prove its power in changing the entire -attitude of the Moslem mind. “Is not my word like as -a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the -rock in pieces?——”</p> - -<p>Finally there is the problem of securing the right men for -the work. So hard is the field in many ways and so hard are -Moslem hearts that the description of Aaron Matthews’ ideal -missionary for the Jews would apply to the Arabs as well, (the -last clause omitted). He wrote: “A Jewish missionary requires -Abraham’s faith, Job’s patience, the meekness of Moses, -the strength of Samson, the wisdom of Solomon, the love of -John, the zeal of Paul, the knowledge of the Scripture of Timo<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_389"></a>389</span>thy, -and a little bit of Baron Rothschild’s pocket.” The financial -part of the equipment is not essential on the part of the -missionary; he should be content with food and raiment. The -less display of Baron Rothschild’s pocket the better, in a land -where people go to bed hungry and where all live in the greatest -simplicity.</p> - -<p>The candidate for missionary work in Arabia should have a -strong and sound constitution. He should know how to -“rough it” when necessary; the more of the Bohemian there -is in his nature the better. He should have both ability and -dogged determination enough to acquire the Arabic language. -Other scholarship is useful but not necessary. To get -along well with the Arabs he should have patience. And -to avoid wearing himself out, a good temper; a man with a -very hot temper could never stand three seasons in the Persian -Gulf. Regarding spiritual qualifications I cannot do better than -quote the solemn words at the close of General Haig’s paper on -“Arabia as a mission-field.” I believe they deserve to be repeated -not only for the sake of those who <i>send</i> missionaries to -Arabia, but for the sake of those who <i>are</i> missionaries to -Arabia. It is a high ideal.</p> - -<p>“Given the right men, and Arabia may be won for Christ; -start with the wrong men, and little will be accomplished. -But what qualifications are needed! what enthusiasm, what -fire of love, what dogged resolution, what uttermost self-sacrificing -zeal for the salvation of men and the glory of Christ! -But upon this point I prefer to quote here the words of a man -who is preëminently qualified to speak upon the subject. -Three years ago he wrote to me:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“‘Unless you have missionaries so full of the spirit of Christ -that they count not their own lives dear to them, you will probably -look in vain for converts who will be prepared to lose -their lives in the Master’s service. In a relaxing tropical climate, -like that of Aden, circumstances are very unfavorable -for the development of self-denying character, or of energetic<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_390"></a>390</span> -service. No small amount of grace would be needed to sustain -it; for we are compound beings, and there is a wonderful reaction -of the body upon the soul, as well as of the soul upon -the body. It is supremely important, then, in an enterprise -like yours, to have the <i>right stamp</i> of men—men who have -made some sacrifices, and who do not count sacrifice to be -sacrifice, but privilege and honor—men who do not know -what <i>discouragement</i> means, and men who expect great things -from God. Such alone will prove really successful workers in -a field so replete with difficulty. Unless Eternity bulks very -largely in the estimation of a man, how can he encourage a -native convert to take a step that will at once destroy all his -hopes and prospects of an earthly character, and possibly result -in imprisonment, and torture, and death itself? and unless -you have men who are prepared, should God seem to call for it, to -lead their converts into circumstances of such danger and trial, -it is not very likely that they will find converts who will go -very much in advance of themselves. Men of this stamp are -not to be <i>manufactured</i>; they are God-made. They are not -to be <i>found</i>; they must be God-sought and God-given. But -the Master who has need of them is able to provide them. -Nothing is too hard for the Lord.’”</p></div> - -<p>”<i>Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that He would -thrust forth laborers into His harvest.</i>”</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_391"></a>391</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XXXVI">XXXVI<br /> - -<small>OUTLOOK FOR MISSIONS TO MOSLEMS IN ARABIA</small></h2></div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Take it at its very worst. They are dead lands and dead souls, -blind and cold and stiff in death as no heathen are; but we who love -them see the possibilities of sacrifice, of endurance of enthusiasm of <i>life</i>, -not yet effaced. Does not the Son of God who died for them see these -possibilities too? Do you think He says of the Mohammedan, ‘There is -no help for him in his God’? Has He not a challenge too for your faith, the -challenge that rolled away the stone from the grave where Lazarus lay? -‘Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldst believe thou shouldst see the -glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the -dead was laid.’”—<i>I. Lilias Trotter</i>, (missionary to Algiers).</p></div> - - -<p>Two views are widely prevalent regarding the hopelessness -of missionary work among Moslems generally, and although -these views are diametrically opposite they are agreed -that it is waste of time and effort to go to Mohammedan lands, -that it is a forlorn hope at best. The first view is that of those -who are themselves outside of the kingdom, and who shut its -doors against the Moslem, saying: Experience has proved -it to be not only useless but dangerous to meddle with the -Moslem and his religion. Their faith is good enough for -them; it is suited to their ways. They do not worship idols -and have a code of morality suitable to the Orient. Mohammed -was a prophet of God and did all that could be done for -these kind of people. Every attempt to convert them ends in -failure. Let them alone. Islam will work out its own reformation. -Some, like Canon Taylor and Doctor Blyden, who -profess to be Christians, even consider Islam the handmaid of -Christianity and specially fitted for the whole Negro race.<a id="FNanchor_157" href="#Footnote_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_392"></a>392</span></p> - -<p>The opposite view is that Mohammedanism is not too hopeful -to be meddled with but too hopeless! They who hold it -profess to believe in the Holy Ghost as the Lord and Life-Giver -for the <i>heathen</i> world, but hesitate when it comes to Islam. -The Moslem is, they say, wrapped up in self-righteousness and -conceit; even those whose fanaticism is overcome dare not accept -Christ. It is better to go to the heathen who will hear. -Missions to the Moslem world are hopeless, fruitless, useless. -It is impossible to Christianize them and there have been few, -if any, converts.</p> - -<p>That both of these views cannot be correct is evident, since they -are contradictory. That the first is false the whole history of -Islam demonstrates. “By their fruits ye shall know them.” -But what of the other view, held by so many, that we need not -expect large results where there is so little promise?</p> - -<p>Professor J. G. Lansing, one of the founders of the Arabian -mission, wrote in 1890: “If the smallness of the number of -converts from Islam to Christianity be pointed out, this argues -not so much the unapproachability of Moslems as the indifference -and inactivity of Christians. The doctrine of fatalism -commonly accredited to Islam, is not one-half so fatalistic in -its spirit and operation as that which for thirteen centuries has -been practically held by the Christian Church as to the hope -of bringing the hosts of Islam into the following of Jesus Christ.” -Is it possible that the lack of results complained of has been -really a <i>lack of faith</i>? Hudson Taylor remarked a few years -ago, “I expect to see some of the most marvellous results -within a few years in the missions to Islam, because of this -work especially the enemy has said: It is without result. God -is not mocked.” Has the apostle to China read the signs of -the times aright?</p> - -<p>Neither God’s Providence nor His Word are silent in answer -to that question. First we have the exceeding hopefulness -of results of recent missionary work in many Moslem lands; then -the sure promises of God to give His Church the victory over<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_393"></a>393</span> -Islam; and lastly the many exceeding great and precious -promises for Arabia the cradle of Islam in particular.</p> - -<p>1. It is not true that there have been no conversions among -Moslems. In India alone there are hundreds who have publicly -abjured Islam and been received into the Christian Church. -The very first native clergyman of the Northwest Provinces -was a converted Mohammedan. Sayad Wilayat Ali of Agra -suffered martyrdom at Delhi for Christ. Mirza Ghulam Masih -of the royal house of Delhi became a Christian and Abdullah -Athim, the valiant-hearted of Amballa embraced the faith. -At the Chicago Parliament of Religions Dr. Imad-ud-Din, himself -a convert from Islam and a voluminous controversial -writer, read a paper on Christian efforts among Indian Mohammedans; -this paper gives the names of one hundred and -seventeen prominent converts from Islam, mostly from the -Punjab. Beside these, the author says, “there are all sorts -and conditions of men, rich and poor, high and low men and -women, children, learned and unlearned, tradesmen, servants, -all kinds and classes of Mohammedans whom the Lord our -God hath called into His Church.” It is officially stated that -quite one-half of the converts from among the higher classes -in the Punjab are from amongst Moslems.</p> - -<p>In Persia there have been martyrs for the faith in recent -years and several have been baptized. In the Turkish empire -there have been scores of converts who have been obliged to -flee for their lives or remain believers in secret. At Constantinople -a congregation of converted Moslems was gathered by -Dr. Koelle, but man after man disappeared—no doubt murdered -for his faith. In Egypt there have been scores of baptisms -and among others a student of Al Azhar University and -a Bey’s son confessed Christ. One has only to turn over the -leaves of the Church Missionary Society annual reports to read -of Mohammedans being baptized in Kerachi, and Bombay, -Peshawar, Delhi, Agra, and on the borders of Afghanistan. -In North Africa where the work is very recent there have been<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_394"></a>394</span> -conversions and in one locality a remarkable spiritual movement -is in progress among the Moslems.</p> - -<p>In Java and Sumatra the Dutch and Rhenish missionary -societies have labored with remarkable success among the -Mohammedan population. At four stations of the Rhenish -Mission is Sumatra where the work is practically altogether -among Moslems, (namely, Sipirok-Simangumban, Bungabonder, -Sipiongot, and Simanasor) the total number of church members -according to the <i>Bombay Guardian</i>, is three thousand five -hundred and ten. The total number of baptisms from Islam -in these stations was during 1897 sixty-nine, and during the -first half of 1898 already ninety-seven baptisms were reported. -In some of the villages where formerly Islam was predominant -it has been expelled altogether. The total number of Battak -Christians amount to thirty-one thousand, the largest part of -whom were formerly Moslems.<a id="FNanchor_158" href="#Footnote_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a> In some parts of Java still -larger results are claimed.</p> - -<p>In most Moslem fields it is absolutely impossible to obtain -accurate statistics of the number of conversions for obvious -reasons. The threatened death-penalty demands great caution -in exposing a convert by freely publishing the fact of his conversion. -Everywhere there are multitudes of secret believers -whose names are sometimes not known even to the missionaries. -Any one who has read the lives of Moslem converts -such as that of Kamil or Imad-ud-Din or who knows from -books like “Sweet First Fruits” what it means for a Moslem to -forsake the faith of his fathers, knows that work in Moslem -lands must not be judged by baptismal statistics.</p> - -<p>There are other indications of spiritual life entering the -Moslem world. There are thousands of Mohammedan youth -receiving instruction in Christian mission schools; in Egypt, -one mission has twenty-four hundred and sixty-four Moslem -pupils enrolled. The permeating power of spiritual Christianity -is again at work in the Levant as when Paul and Silas made<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_395"></a>395</span> -their missionary journeys. The old churches of the East by -their unfaithfulness were the occasion of the great apostasy of -Islam; <i>their revival is the pledge of its downfall</i>. There is -now an Evangelical Church in Persia, Egypt, Palestine, Syria -and Asia Minor. Bodies of living Christians in the midst of -Islam; no wonder that their power is beginning to be felt. -The devil takes no antiseptic precautions against a non-contagious -Christianity. But Evangelical Christianity is contagious, -and the whole lurid horizon proclaims in persecutions -and massacres and raging oppositions everywhere that Islam -feels the power of Christian missions, even although they have -only begun to attack in a miserly and puny way this stronghold -of Satan.</p> - -<p>Regarding the character of Moslem converts Bishop Thoburn -says: “I believe that when truly converted the Mohammedan -makes not only a devoted Christian but in some respects -will make a superior leader. Leadership is a great want -in every mission-field and the Mohammedans of India have the -material, if it can only be won for Christ and sanctified to His -service, out of which splendid workers can be made in the -Master’s vineyard.” Doctor Jessup voices the same opinion, -“It is not easy for a Mohammedan to embrace Christianity but -history shows that when he is converted the Moslem becomes a -strong and vigorous Christian.”</p> - -<p>2. In the work of missions among Mohammedans as well -as in that among the heathen we have the assurance of final -victory in the abundant testimony of God’s Word. God’s -promises never fail of fulfillment; and those world-wide promises -never are put in such a form as to exclude the Mohammedans. -The Bible tells us that many false prophets shall -arise and deceive many; but it does not for a moment allow -that the empire of Christ shall divide rule with any of them. -“It pleased the Father that in Him [Jesus not Mohammed] -should all fullness dwell.” “The Father loveth the Son and -hath given all things into His hands”—not into the hands of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_396"></a>396</span> -Mohammed. “God hath exalted Him and given Him a -name which is above every name ... far above all -principality and power and might and dominion and every -name that is named not only in this world but also in that -which is to come.” “That at the name of Jesus every” Mohammedan -“knee should bow and every” Moslem “tongue -confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the -Father.” The present may see Islam triumphant, but the -future belongs to Christ. Over against the lying truth “there -is no God but God and Mohammed is His prophet,” Christianity -lifts the standard, “Who is he that overcometh the -world but he that believeth that Jesus Christ is the Son of -God?” The Divinity of Christ, which Moslems deny, decides -the destiny of all world-kingdoms. Witness the present -governments of the Moslem world. “Be wise now therefore O -ye kings, be instructed ye judges of the earth ... kiss -the Son lest He be angry and ye perish from the way when His -wrath is kindled but a little.”</p> - -<p>There is a failure among Christians to realize the number and -importance of the missionary promises in the Old Testament.<a id="FNanchor_159" href="#Footnote_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a> -The Great Commission was based on these exceeding great -promises. The nations were in God’s plan before they were on -Christ’s program. And is it not remarkable that nearly all of -these Old Testament promises are grouped around the names -of countries which now are the centre and strength of the Moslem -world? “Known unto God are all His works from the beginning -of the world.” Or will these promises of world-wide -import only stretch beyond Egypt, Mesopotamia, Syria and -Arabia, not including those lands in God’s plan of redemption -and dominion? Is there not a special blessing in store for the -lands that border Palestine, when the Lord shall comfort Zion<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_397"></a>397</span> -and restore all her waste places? “In that day shall Israel be -the third with Egypt and with Assyria even a blessing in the -midst of the earth. Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, -Blessed be Egypt My people and Assyria the work of My -hands and Israel My inheritance.”</p> - -<p>The Moslem world is in no <i>better</i> condition and in no <i>worse</i> -condition than the heathen world as portrayed in the New -Testament. The need of both is the same; and the same -duty to evangelize them; and the same promise of God’s -blessing on our work of witness. The Mohammedan world is -also without excuse (Rom. i. 20, 32), without hope (John -iii. 36; Eph. ii. 12), without peace (Isaiah xlviii. 22), without -feeling (Eph. iv. 19), without Christ (Rom. xiii. 13, 14) -as is the heathen world. But no less is our responsibility toward -them nor the power of God’s love to win them.</p> - -<p>It is the rock of Christ’s <i>Sonship</i> which is the stone of -stumbling and the rock of offence to the Moslem mind. But -it is this very rock on which Christ builds His church; and -the foundation of God standeth sure. Writing on this subject -Mr. Edward Glenny, the Secretary of the North Africa Mission, -well says:</p> - -<p>“Blessed be God, we are not left to carry on this warfare at -our own charges! ‘He that sent Me is with Me,’ said the -Master; and He who sends His servants now is surely with -them also, for the promise stands, ‘Lo! I am with you alway, -even unto the end of the age.’ In all our efforts for the salvation -of men, we are dependent upon the power of the Spirit of -God; for no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the -Holy Ghost. But if those of us who work at home are conscious -of this, those who labor in Mohammedan countries -realize it most intensely. Amongst the masses at home, what -we have to contend against mostly is indifference; but there it -is deeply-rooted prejudice, aye, even in many cases, hatred to -Jesus as the Son of God. But the battle is the Lord’s, not -ours; we are but instruments to carry out His purposes. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_398"></a>398</span> -Spirit has been sent forth from the Father to ‘convict <span class="allsmcap">THE -WORLD</span> of sin,’ and we are not justified in making any reservation -in the case of Mohammedans—yea, may we not expect -that if there be a nation or race on the earth more inaccessible -than another, more averse to the gospel, more hardened -against its teachings, that there the Lord will show ‘the exceeding -greatness of His power’ by calling out some from -their midst whom He may make ‘chosen vessels’ to bear His -name to others? Has not that been His mode of working in -time past?”</p> - -<p>3. There is no land in the world and no people (with the -exception of Palestine and the Jews) which bear such close -relation to the Theocratic covenants and Old Testament -promises as Arabia and the Arabs. The promises for the -final victory of the Kingdom of God in Arabia are many, -definite and glorious. These promises group themselves -around seven names which have from time immemorial been -identified with the peninsula of Arabia: <i>Ishmael</i>, <i>Kedar</i>, -<i>Nebaioth</i>, <i>Sheba</i>, <i>Seba</i>, <i>Midian</i> and <i>Ephah</i>. We select these -names only, omitting others which have an indirect reference -to Arabia or the Arabs, as well as those promises, so numerous -and glorious, concerning the wilderness and desert-lands. -The latter would surely, for the dwellers of Palestine, have -primary reference to Northern Arabia; but our argument is -strong enough without these general promises.<a id="FNanchor_160" href="#Footnote_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a></p> - -<p>In order to understand the promises given to the sons of -Ishmael, Kedar and Nebaioth, we need first to know the relation -which Ishmael bears to the Abrahamic covenant and the -place he occupies in God’s plan for the nations as outlined in -the book of Genesis.</p> - -<p>Hagar, the mother of the Arabian patriarch, seems to have -occupied a prominent place in Abraham’s household and appears -to have brought to that position not only mental gifts but<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_399"></a>399</span> -also an inward participation in the faith of the God of Abraham. -She was probably added to the family of faith during -Abraham’s sojourn in Egypt and occupied the same position -toward the female servants that Eliezer of Damascus did to the -male servants. It is when she was driven forth into the wilderness -by the jealous harshness of Sarah that we have the first -revelation of God regarding her seed. “The angel of the -Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, -by the fountain in the way to Shur.”<a id="FNanchor_161" href="#Footnote_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a> And He said, -Whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she -said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. And the -angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress and -submit thyself under her hands. And the angel of the Lord -said unto her, ... “I will multiply thy seed exceedingly -that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel -of the Lord said unto her, Behold thou art with child, and -shall bear a son and shalt call his name Ishmael [God will -hear]; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. And he -will be a wild man, his hand will be against every man, and -every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the -presence of all his brethren. And she called the name of the -Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, -Have I also here looked after Him that seeth me.”</p> - -<p>It is plain from the context that the angel of the Lord and -the Lord Himself are here identified; it was the angel of -Jehovah, the angel of the covenant or the Christ of the Old -Testament. Why should this “angel” first appear to the -Egyptian bondwoman? Is it according to the law that the -Lord always reveals Himself first to the poorest, most distressed -and receptive hearts or was it the special office of the covenant -angel to seek “that which was lost” from the patriarchal -church at its very beginning? Lange suggests in his commentary -that the “Angel of Jehovah, as the Christ who was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_400"></a>400</span> -to come through Isaac had a peculiar reason for assisting -Hagar, since she for the sake of the future Christ is involved -in this sorrow.” In any case the special revelation and the -special promise was given to Hagar not only but to her seed. -Christ, if we may so express it, outlines the future history and -character of the Ishmaelites as well as their strength and glory; -but He also gives them a spiritual promise in the God-given -name, <i>Ishmael</i>, Elohim will hear. Without this the theophany -loses it true character. Ishmael as the child of Abraham -could not be left undistinguishable among the heathen. It -was for Abraham’s sake that the revelation included the unborn -child in its promises.</p> - -<p>The fulfillment of the promise that Ishmael’s seed should -multiply exceedingly has never been more clearly stated than -by the geographer Ritter: “Arabia, whose population consists -to a large extent of Ishmaelites, is a living fountain of men -whose streams for thousands of years have poured themselves -far and wide to the east and west. Before Mohammed its -tribes were found in all border-Asia, in the East Indies as early -as the middle ages; and in all North Africa it is the cradle of -all the wandering hordes. Along the whole Indian ocean down -to Molucca they had their settlements in the middle ages; they -spread along the coast to Mozambique; their caravans crossed -India to China, and in Europe they peopled Southern Spain -and ruled it for seven hundred years.” Where there has been -such clear fulfillment of the promise of natural increase, is -there no ground that <i>God will hear</i> and give spiritual blessing -also and that Ishmael “shall dwell in the presence of all his -brethren” in the new covenant of grace?</p> - -<p><a id="THE_RESCUED_SLAVE_BOYS_AT_MUSCAT"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowe62_5" id="illus-400a"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-400a.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">THE RESCUED SLAVE BOYS AT MUSCAT.</div> -</div> - -<p>Thirteen years after the first promise to Ishmael we hear the -promise renewed just after the institution of circumcision, the -sign of the covenant of faith.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_401"></a>401</span> “And Abraham said unto God, -O that Ishmael might [even yet] live before Thee. And God -said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou -shall call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant -with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after -him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee....” -What is the significance of Abraham’s prayer for Ishmael? -Is it probable that he merely asks for temporal prosperity and -for length of life? This is the idea of some commentators but -none of them explain why the prayer asks that Ishmael may -live “<i>before God</i>.” Keil and others, more correctly we think, -regard the prayer of Abraham as arising out of his anxiety lest -Ishmael should not have <i>any</i> part in the blessings of the covenant. -The fact that the answer of God contains no denial of -the prayer of Abraham is in favor of this interpretation.</p> - -<p><a id="THE_ARABIAN_MISSION_HOUSE_AT_MUSCAT"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowe62_5" id="illus-400b"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-400b.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">THE ARABIAN MISSION HOUSE AT MUSCAT.</div> -</div> - -<p>In the prayer Abraham expresses his anticipation of an indefinite -neglect of Ishmael which was painful to his parental -heart. He asks for him, therefore, a life from God in the -highest sense. Else what does the circumcision of Ishmael -mean? The sealing or ratifying of the covenant of God with -Abraham <i>through Isaac’s seed</i>, embraces not only the seed of -Isaac, but all those who in a wider sense are sharers of the covenant, -Ishmael and his descendants. And however much the -Arabs may have departed from the <i>faith</i> of Abraham they have -for all these centuries remained faithful to the <i>sign</i> of the old -covenant by the rite of circumcision. This is one of the most -remarkable facts of history. <i>Circumcision is not once alluded -to in the Koran</i>, and Moslem writers offer no explanation for -the omission. Yet the custom is universal in Arabia, and from -them it passed over with other traditions to all the Moslem -world. The Moslems date circumcision from Abraham and -circumcise at a late period. The Arabs in “the time of ignorance” -also practiced the rite; an uncircumcised person is -unknown even among those Bedouins who know nothing of -Islam save the name of the prophet.<a id="FNanchor_162" href="#Footnote_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a></p> - -<p>“As for Ishmael I have heard thee.” For the third time we -read of a special revelation to prove God’s love for the son of -the bondmaid. In the pathetic story of Hagar’s expulsion,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_402"></a>402</span> -Ishmael is the centre figure.<a id="FNanchor_163" href="#Footnote_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a> His mocking was its cause; for -<i>his</i> sake it was grievous in Abraham’s sight to expel them. To -Ishmael again is there a special promise, “because he is thy -seed.” When the water is spent in the bottle and Hagar turns -away from seeing the death of the child, it was not her weeping -but the lad’s prayer that brought deliverance from heaven. -“And the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said -unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath -heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad -and hold him by thine hand; for I will make of him a great -nation. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of -water; and she went and filled the bottle with water and gave -the lad drink. And God was with the lad.”</p> - -<p>No less does this history show the moral beauty of Hagar’s -character, her tender mother love and all the beautiful traits of -a maternal solicitude than the repentance of Ishmael. God -heard his voice; God forgave his sinful mocking; God confirmed -his promise; God saved his life; God was with the lad. -The Providence of God watched over Ishmael. Long years -after he seems to have visited his father Abraham, for we read -that when the patriarch died in a good old age “his sons Isaac -and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah.” No mention -is made here of the sons of Keturah. And twice in the -Bible the generations of Ishmael are recorded in full<a id="FNanchor_164" href="#Footnote_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a> in order -to bind together the prophecies of Genesis with the Messianic -promises of Isaiah for the seed of Ishmael.</p> - -<p>The twelve princes, sons of Ishmael, whose names are recorded -“by their towns and their castles” were undoubtedly -the patriarchs of so many Arab tribes. Some of the names -can be distinctly traced through history and others are easily -identified with modern clans in Arabia. Mibsam, <i>e. g.</i>, seems -to correspond with the Nejd clan of <i>Bessam</i> some of whom -are merchants at Busrah; Mishma is surely the same as the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_403"></a>403</span> -Arabic <i>Bni Misma</i>; while nearly all commentators agree that -Duma is <i>Dumat el Jendal</i> in North Arabia, one of the oldest -Arabic settlements. Aside from conjecture two names stand -prominent and well-known in profane history; <i>Nebajoth</i> and -<i>Kedar</i>. Pliny in his natural history mentions them together -as the Nabatœi et Cedrei and the Arab historians are familiar -with the names. Undoubtedly the Nabatans are related to -Nebajoth; although this is denied by Quartremere it is affirmed -by M. Chwolson and is the universal opinion of the Arabs -themselves.</p> - -<p>Now it is these very two names, whose identity no one -questions, that are the centre of glorious promises. It is generally -known that the sixtieth chapter of Isaiah is the gem of -missionary prophecy in the Old Testament; but it does not -occur to every one that a large portion of it consists of special -promises for Arabia. “The multitude of camels shall cover -thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah, (Sons of Keturah, -Gen. xxv. 1-5); all they from Sheba (South Arabia or -Yemen) shall come; they shall bring gold and incense; and -they shall show forth the praises of the Lord. All the flocks -of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee; the rams of -Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with -acceptance upon mine altar and I will glorify the house of my -glory. Who are these that fly as a cloud and as doves to their -windows?”</p> - -<p>These verses read in connection with the grand array of -promises that precede them leave no room for doubt that the -sons of Ishmael have a large place in this coming glory of the -Lord and the brightness of His rising. It has only been delayed -by our neglect to evangelize Northern Arabia but God -will keep His promise yet and Christ shall see of the travail -of His soul, among the camel-drivers and shepherds of Arabia. -And then shall be fulfilled that other promise significantly put -in Isaiah xlii. for this part of the peninsula: “Sing unto the -Lord a new song and His praise from the end of the earth<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_404"></a>404</span> -... let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their -voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants -of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.” -It is all there, with geographical accuracy and up-to-date; -“<i>cities in the wilderness</i>” that is Nejd under its present -government; Kedar forsaking the nomad tent and becoming -villagers; and the rock-dwellers of Medain Salih! “And I -will bring the blind by a way they knew not; I will lead them -in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light -before them and crooked things straight.” The only proper -name, the only geographical centre of the entire chapter is -<i>Kedar</i>. In two other prophecies,<a id="FNanchor_165" href="#Footnote_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a> which have no Messianic -character, Kedar is referred to <i>as synonymous with Arabia</i>.</p> - -<p>Another group of missionary promises for Arabia cluster -round the names <i>Seba</i> and <i>Sheba</i>. “All they from Sheba shall -come; they shall bring gold and incense and they shall show -forth the praises of the Lord.” (Is. lx. 6.) “The kings of -Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea all kings shall fall down -before Him, all nations shall serve Him.... He shall -live and to Him shall be given of the gold of Sheba; prayer also -shall be made for Him continually and daily shall He be -praised.” The Messianic character of this psalm is generally -acknowledged.</p> - -<p>Where are Seba and Sheba? Who are they? Three -Shebas are referred to in genealogy and prophecy. 1. A son -of Raamah, son of Cush; 2. A son of Joktan; 3. A son -of Jokshan son of Keturah. But all of these find their dwelling-place -in what is now Southern Arabia. The Joktanite -Sheba is the kingdom of the Himyarites in Yemen.<a id="FNanchor_166" href="#Footnote_166" class="fnanchor">[166]</a> The -kingdom of Sheba embraced the greater part of Yemen; its -chief cities and probably its successive capitals were Seba, -Sana (Uzal), and Zaphar (Sephar). Seba, the oldest capital, is -identical with the present <i>Marib</i>, northeast of Sana; for Ez<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_405"></a>405</span>Zejjaj -in the Taj El Aroos dictionary says, “Seba was the city -of Marib or the country in the Yemen of which the city was -Marib.” Ptolemy’s map makes plain what the Romans and -Greeks understood by Seba and Sheba. The Cushite Sheba -settled somewhere on the shores of the Persian Gulf. In the -<i>Marasid</i> Stanley-Poole says he found “an identification -which appears to be satisfactory—that on the island of Awāl, -one of the Bahrein islands are the ruins of an ancient city -called Seba.”</p> - -<p>The same authority holds that the Keturahite Sheba formed -one tribe with the Cushite Sheba and also dwelt in Eastern -Arabia. Sheba has always been a land of gold and incense -and we are only beginning to know a little of the opulence and -glory of the ancient Himyarite kingdom in Yemen from the -lately discovered inscriptions and ruins.</p> - -<p>In the same psalm that gives these promises to Southern and -Eastern Arabia we have this remarkable verse: “He shall have -dominion also from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends -of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before -Him and His enemies shall lick the dust.” <i>The</i> river referred -to is undoubtedly the Euphrates<a id="FNanchor_167" href="#Footnote_167" class="fnanchor">[167]</a> and the boundaries -given are intended to include the ideal extent of the promised -land. Now it is, to say the least, remarkable that modern -Jewish commentators interpret this passage together with the -forty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel so as to include <i>the whole -peninsula of Arabia</i> in the land of promise. I have seen a -curious map, printed by Jews in London, on which the twelve -restored tribes had each their strip of territory right across -Arabia from the Red Sea to the Gulf and including Palestine -and Syria.</p> - -<p>Isaac Da Costa, the great Dutch poet, who was of Jewish descent -gathers together in his epic, “Hagar,” some of these -Bible promises for the sons of Ishmael.<a id="FNanchor_168" href="#Footnote_168" class="fnanchor">[168]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_406"></a>406</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Mother of Ishmael! The word that God hath spoken</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Never hath failed the least, nor was His promise broken.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whether in judgment threatened or as blessing given;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whether for time and earth or for eternal heaven,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To Esau or to Jacob....</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The patriarch prayed to God, while bowing in the dust:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">’Oh that before thee Ishmael might live!’—His prayer, his trust.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor was that prayer despised, <i>that</i> promise left alone</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Without fulfillment. For the days shall come</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When Ishmael shall bow his haughty chieftain head</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Before that Greatest Chief of Isaac’s royal seed.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thou, favored Solomon, hast first fulfillment seen</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of Hagar’s promise, when came suppliant Sheba’s queen.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Next Araby the blest brought Bethlehem’s newborn King,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her myrrh and spices, gold and offering.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Again at Pentecost they came, first-fruits of harvest vast;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When, to adore the name of Jesus, at the last</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To Zion’s glorious hill the nation’s joy to share</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The scattered flocks of Kedar all are gathered there,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nebajoth, Hefa, Midian....</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then Israel shall know Whose heart their hardness broke,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whose side they pierced, Whose curse they dared invoke.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And then, while at His feet they mourn His bitter death,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Receive His pardon....</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Before Whose same white throne Gentile and Jew shall meet</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With Parthian, Roman, Greek, the far North and the South,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From Mississippi’s source to Ganges’ giant mouth,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And every tongue and tribe shall join in one new song,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Redemption! Peace on earth and good-will unto men;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The purpose of all ages unto all ages sure. Amen.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Glory unto the Father! Glory the Lamb, once slain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Spotless for human guilt, exalted now to reign!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And to the Holy Ghost, life-giver, whose refreshing</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Makes all earth’s deserts bloom with living showers of blessing!”</div> - </div> - - <div class="verse indent10"><hr class="tb" /></div> - - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Mother of Ishmael! I see thee yet once more,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thee, under burning skies and on a waveless shore!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thou comfortless, soul storm tossed, tempest shaken,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Heart full of anguish and of hope forsaken, -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_407"></a>407</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thou, too, didst find at last God’s glory all thy stay!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He came. He spake to thee. He made thy night His day.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As then, so now. Return to Sarah’s tent</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And Abraham’s God, and better covenant,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And sing with Mary, through her Saviour free,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">‘God of my life, Thou hast looked down on me.’”</div> -</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>But Arabia, although it has all this wealth of promise, is not -a field for <i>feeble</i> faith. Yet we can learn to look at this -barren land because of these promises with the same reckless, -uncalculating, <i>defiant</i> confidence in which Abraham “without -being weakened in faith, considered his own body now as -good as dead” (<span class="allsmcap">R. V.</span>) “but waxed strong through faith giving -glory to God.” The promises are great because the obstacles -are great; that the glory of the plan as well as the glory of -the work may be to God alone. Arabia needs men who will -believe as seeing the Invisible. Six hundred years ago Raymond -Lull wrote: “It seems to me that the Holy Land cannot -be won in any other way than that whereby Thou, O Lord -Jesus Christ, and Thy Holy Apostles won it, by love and -prayer, and the shedding of tears and blood.”</p> - -<p>A lonely worker among Moslems in North Africa recently -wrote: “Yes it is lives poured out that these people need—a -sowing in tears—in a measure that perhaps no heathen land -requires; they need a Calvary before they get their Pentecost. -Thanks be unto God for a field like this: in the light of eternity -we could ask no higher blessedness than the chance it gives of -fellowship with His Son.”</p> - -<p>The dumb spirit of Islam has possessed Arabia from its -childhood for thirteen hundred years; “he teareth and he -foameth and gnasheth with his teeth and pineth away.” “And -He said unto them this kind can come forth by nothing but by -prayer and fasting.” “<i>If thou canst believe, all things are possible -to him that believeth.</i>” (Mark ix. 14-29.)</p> - -<p>Life for Arabia must come from the Life-Giver. “I believe -in the Holy Ghost,” therefore mission-work in Arabia will<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_408"></a>408</span> -prove the promise of God true in every particular and to its -fullest extent. “O that Ishmael might live ... as for -Ishmael I have heard thee.”</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Speed on, ye heralds, bringing</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Life to the desert slain;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till in its mighty winging,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">God’s spirit comes to reign</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From death to new-begetting,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">God shall the power give,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Shall choose them for crown-setting</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And Ishmael shall live.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“So speaks the promise, bringing</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The age of Jubilee</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To every home and tenting,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From Tadmor to the sea.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The dead to life are risen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The glory spreads abroad,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The desert answers heaven,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Hosannas to the Lord!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_409"></a>409</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Appendix_I">Appendix I<br /> - -<small>A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE</small></h2></div> - - -<table class="small" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> Circa</td> -<td class="tdl">1892 B. C.—Birth of Ishmael.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1773 ” —Death of Ishmael.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">992 ” —Bilkis, queen of Yemen (Sheba) visits Solomon.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">700 ” —Amalgamation of Cushite and Sabean clans in Yemen.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">754 ” —All Yemen and Oman under rule of Yaarŭb.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">588 ” —First Jewish settlements in Arabia.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> A. D.</td> -<td class="tdl">33—Arabians present at Pentecost.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">37—The Apostle Paul goes to Arabia.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">60—Second Jewish immigration into Arabia.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">105—Roman Emperor Trajan under his general Palma subdues Northwestern Arabia.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">120—Destruction of great dam at Marib and the beginning of Arab migrations northward.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">297—Famine in Western Arabia. Migrations eastward.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">326—Nearchus, admiral of Alexander, surveys the Persian Gulf.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">325—Nicene Council—Arabians present.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">342—Christianity already extending in Northern Arabia. Churches built in Yemen.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">372—Mavia, queen of North Arabia, converted to Christianity.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">525—Abyssinian invasion of Yemen.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">561—Mohammed born at Mecca.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">575—Persians under Anosharwan expel the Abyssinians from Yemen.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">595—Mohammed marries Khadijah.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">595—Yemen passes under Persian Rule.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">610—Mohammed begins his prophetic career.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">622—(A.H. 1)—Mohammed flees from Mecca to Medina. The era of the <i>Hegira</i>. (See end of Table.)</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">623—Battle of Bedr.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">624—Battle of Ohod.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">630—Mecca overcome. Embassy to Oman, etc.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">632—Death of Mohammed. Abubekr caliph. All Arabia subjugated by force of arms.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">634—Omar caliph. Expulsion of Jews and Christians from Arabia.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_410"></a>410</span>”</td> -<td class="tdl">638—Kufa and Busrah founded.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">644—Othman caliph.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">655—Dissensions regarding caliphate. Medina attacked. Ali chosen caliph.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">656—Battle of the Camel. Capital transferred to Kufa.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">661—Ali assassinated. Hassan becomes caliph.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">750—Beginning of Abbaside Caliphate (Bagdad).</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">754—Mansur.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">786—Haroun el Rashid.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">809—Amin.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">813—Mamun.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">833—Motasim.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">847—Motawakkel.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">889—Arise of Carmathian sect.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">905—Yemen comes under Karamite caliphs.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">932—Rebellion in Yemen. It becomes independent under <i>Imams</i> of Sana as rulers.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">930—Carmathians take Mecca and carry away the black-stone to Katif.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1055—Togrul Beg at Bagdad.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1096-1272—The Crusades. Arabia in touch with European civilization through its bands of warriors.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1173—Yemen subdued by sultans of Egypt.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1240—Rise of Ottoman Turks.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1258—Fall of Bagdad.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1325—Yemen again independent.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1454—Imams of Yemen take Aden and fortify it.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1503—Portuguese under Ludovico Barthema, make voyages on Arabian coast and visit Aden and Muscat.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1507—Portuguese take Muscat.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1513—Portuguese under Abulquerque are repulsed at Aden. Visit Mokha and the Persian Gulf.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1516—Suleiman by order of Mameluke Sultan attacks Aden and is repulsed.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1538—Suleiman the Magnificent sends a fleet and takes Aden by treachery. Arab garrison butchered.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1540—Beginning of Turkish rule in Yemen.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1550—Arabs hand over Aden to the Portuguese.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1551—Aden recaptured by Peri Pasha.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1624-1741—Imams established rule over all Oman with capital at Rastak; then at Muscat.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1609—First visit to Aden by English captains.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1618—English establish factories at Mokha.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1622—Portuguese expelled from Bahrein and Arab coast by the Persians.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1630—Arabs drive out Turks from Yemen and <i>Imams</i> take the throne at Sana.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1740-65—Dutch East India Company in Persian Gulf and Red Sea ports.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1765—English East India Company in Persian Gulf and Red Sea ports.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_411"></a>411</span>”</td> -<td class="tdl">1735—Abdali Sultan of Lahaj takes Aden.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1741—Ahmed bin Said drives out Portuguese from Muscat and founds Dynasty of Imams, anew.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1765—Mohammed bin Abdul Wahab dies and his political associate Mohammed bin Saud propagates Wahabiism in Arabia.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1780—Spread of Wahabi doctrine over all of Central Arabia.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1801—Wahabis conquer Bahrein and hold it for nine years.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1803—Abd-ul-Aziz the Wahabi chief assassinated by a Persian fanatic.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1803—Wahabis take Mecca and lay seige to Jiddah.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1804—Wahabis take Medina.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1804—Said bin Sultan ruler of Oman and Zanzibar.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1809—Aden visited by Captain Haines of British Navy.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1818—Ibrahim Pasha captures Wahabi capital and sends Amir in chains to Constantinople where he is beheaded.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1805-1820—British suppress piracy in Persian Gulf.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1820—Son of Amir, Turki, proclaimed Sultan of Nejd and Oman coast.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1821—British make treaty with tribes on Oman coast called the “Trucial League.”</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1820-1847—British treaties with Bahrein chiefs to suppress slave-trade and piracy.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1831—Turki, ruler of Nejd, murdered.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1832—Feysul bin Turki, succeeds him.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">l835—Abdullah bin Rashid becomes a powerful chief in Jebel Shammar.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1835—Aden again visited by British to avenge cruelty to sailors shipwrecked off its coast.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1839—Aden bombarded by British fleet and taken. Treaties made with surrounding tribes.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1840-1847—Aden attacked by Arabs.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1846—Tilal bin Abdullah bin Rashid succeeds to rulership of Jebel Shammar and becomes independent of Wahabi power.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1851-1856—Abdullah bin Mutalib Sherif of Mecca.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1854—Sultan of Oman makes treaty with England and cedes Kuria Muria Islands.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1856—Thuwani bin Said ruler of Oman.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1857—Perim occupied by British.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1858-1877—Abdullah bin Mohammed Sherif of Mecca.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1858—Cable laid in Red Sea from Suez to Aden, but proved defective (cost £800,000).</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1858—Bombardment of Jiddah by British.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1865-1886—Abdullah bin Feysul ruler of Nejd with capital at Riad.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1867—Mitaab bin Abdullah succeeds Tilal.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1867—Menamah (Bahrein) bombarded by British because of broken treaty. Isa bin Ali made ruler.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1866—Sultan bin Thuwani ruler of Oman.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_412"></a>412</span>”</td> -<td class="tdl">1868—Mohammed bin Rashid assumes power and rule at Hail as Amir of Nejd.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1869—Cable laid from Bombay to Aden and Suez.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1870—Turkish invasion of Yemen.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1871—Turkish invasion of Hassa and occupation of Katif.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1871—Seyyid Turki ruler of Oman (Muscat).</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1875—Busrah made a separate vilayet.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1877—Beginning of Turkish bureaucracy at Mecca.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1878—Treaty of Berlin. Reforms promised in Turkish Provinces.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1880—Hasein, Sherif of Mecca, is murdered.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1881-82—Abd el Mutalib again Sherif of Mecca.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1882—Aun er Rafik made Sherif of Mecca.</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"> ”</td> -<td class="tdl">1886—Mohammed Ibn Rashid takes Riad overturning Saud government and becomes ruler of all Central Arabia.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p class="small">[<span class="smcap">Note.</span>—To find the equivalent date <span class="allsmcap">A. H.</span> of any year <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span>:—From -the year <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> deduct 621.54 and to the remainder add 3 per cent. -<span class="allsmcap">A. H.</span> 1 = July 16th, 622 <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span>, and the Moslem year consists of 12 lunar -months. To find the equivalent date <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> of a year <span class="allsmcap">A. H.</span> multiply it by -.970225 and to the remainder add 621.54. The sum gives the date <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> -of the <i>end</i> of the year <span class="allsmcap">A. H.</span>]</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_413"></a>413</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Appendix_II">Appendix II<br /> - -<small>TABLE OF THE ARAB TRIBES OF NORTHERN -ARABIA</small></h2></div> - -<ul> -<li class="table">I. <span class="smcap">The Anaeze:</span></li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table"><i>Walid Ali</i></li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">El Meshadaka.</li> - <li class="table">El Meshatta.</li> - <li class="table">El Hammamede.</li> - <li class="table">El Jedaleme.</li> - <li class="table">El Toluh.</li> - </ul></li> - <li class="table"><i>El-Hessene</i></li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">El Hessene (proper).</li> - <li class="table">Messalih.</li> - </ul></li> - <li class="table"><i>Er-Ruwalla</i>(or Jilas)</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">El Ruwalla (proper).</li> - <li class="table">Um Halif.</li> - </ul></li> - <li class="table"><i>El-Beshr</i></li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">Tana Majid</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">Fedan.</li> - <li class="table">Sebaa.</li> - </ul></li> - <li class="table">Selga</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">Medeyan.</li> - <li class="table">Metarafe.</li> - <li class="table">Aulad Sulei.</li> - </ul></li> - </ul></li> -</ul></li> - - -<li class="table">II. <span class="smcap">Ahl Es-Shemmal</span>:(Northern tribes)</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">El Mowaly.</li> - <li class="table">El Howeytat.</li> - <li class="table">El Hadedin.</li> - <li class="table">Es-Soleyb.</li> - <li class="table">(also)</li> - <li class="table">Arabs of the Hauran</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">El Feheily.</li> - <li class="table">Es-Serdye.</li> - </ul></li> - <li class="table">Bni Sokhr.</li> - <li class="table">Bni Heteym.</li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="table">III. <span class="smcap">Ahl el-Kibly</span>: (Southernly tribes)</li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">Arabs of Kerak.</li> - <li class="table">Esh-Sherarat.</li> - <li class="table">Bni-Shammar </li> - <li class="table"><ul> - <li class="table">El Temeyat.</li> - <li class="table">El Menjat.</li> - <li class="table">Ibn Ghazy.</li> - <li class="table">Bayr.</li> - <li class="table">El-Fesyani.</li> - </ul></li> - <li class="table">El-Jerba.</li> - <li class="table">El Jofeir.</li> - <li class="table">El Akeydat</li> - <li class="table">Bni Sayd.</li> - <li class="table">El-Wouled.</li> - <li class="table">El-Bakara.</li> - </ul></li> - </ul> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_414"></a>414</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Appendix_III">Appendix III<br /> - -<small>KAAT AND COFFEE CULTURE IN ARABIA</small></h2></div> - - -<p>Kaat (<i>Celastrus eatha edulis</i>) is a shrub or small tree which grows at -an altitude of about five thousand feet in the lower mountains of Yemen, -especially on the slopes of Jebel Sohr near Taiz. It is uncertain whether -the plant is indigenous, but if introduced into Yemen from Africa, it came -very early, with coffee, when the Abyssinian conquest caused the fall of -the Himyarite empire.</p> - -<p>Kaat is planted from shoots which are left to grow for three years, then -all the leaves and buds are pulled off except on a few twigs; these develop -the following year into juicy shoots which are cut off, tied in -bundles, wrapped in grass to preserve their moisture, and sold under the -name of <i>moubarreh</i>. The second crop is of better quality, and is called -<i>mouthanee</i>. A small bundle, <i>kilwet</i>, sells at Taiz for about five cents, -and a larger quantity, yet scarcely a handful, called <i>zirbet</i>, for ten cents. -Only the leaves and young twigs are masticated, but I have seen the poor -glad to pick up even the castaway dry leaves and branches to get what -comfort they could out of them.</p> - -<p>The taste of the leaves is slightly bitter and astringent, very like that of -the peach leaf. It has stimulative properties, produces wakefulness, and -in large quantities hallucination; it is said to preserve the teeth, and some -use it as an aphrodisac. All Arabs claim that it gives wonderful power -of endurance, and that with their kaat and tobacco they can do without -food on long journeys. Every one, young and old, Arab, Jew or Turk, -uses it, and many use it in incredible quantities. One soldier told me -that he spent a rupee (33 cents) a day for his kaat, and the Cadi of Taiz -pays twenty dollars a day for this luxury,—his household, however, is as -large as the koran and divorce can make it.</p> - -<p>The Ottoman government receives twenty-five per cent customs on the -market price of the plant in addition to the land tax on kaat culture. The -total revenue from this source is considerable as can be judged from the -fact that at Taiz, a town of perhaps five thousand population, all the other -taxes are farmed for ten thousand dollars per annum, while the daily sale -of kaat amounts to over three hundred dollars!</p> - -<p>The kaat market is open from early morning, when the fresh bundles -came on donkeys and camels, but the busiest time is in the afternoon; -for the proper thing is to eat kaat just before sunset, and to invite guests -to chew leaves an hour or two before dinner. The sellers sit in the open<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_415"></a>415</span> -air, and are mostly women. In their rather picturesque costumes, unveiled, -they sit the long day, with a basket of the green luxury before -them; sprinkling their ware from time to time to keep it moist; untying -a score of bundles to satisfy some proud epicure who tastes before he takes; -haggling over the price of a damaged bundle with some soldier; and -again swearing, as only Arabs can, to the genuineness of the kind in -question—for kaat has six distinct flavors and varieties, each with a special -name, and alas for the slave who was sent for one and returns with another. -Sometimes there is close dealing, or on a rainy day “a corner” -in the market, or some wicked urchin runs off with a stolen bundle, and -at such times all the women talk at once, and their uproar is only rivalled -in Yemen by the Jews’ synagogue service. The kaat market at 4 <span class="allsmcap">P. M.</span> is -indeed a picture, full of color and pose and motion worthy the brush of an -artist; its like can only be seen in the villages of lower Yemen, and -among the many surprises to the traveller in this Switzerland of Arabia -nothing is at first sight stranger and more ludicrous than to see sober -Arabs sit down in groups at the close of day and, as Nebuchadnezzar of -old, “eat grass like oxen.”</p> - -<p>According to an Arab history <i>kaat</i> was used by the Arabs before the -coffee-plant became naturalized in the highlands of Yemen. At present -coffee and kaat grow together. Both are considered lawful to Moslems, -and Yemen’s chief source of wealth is its coffee export. The principal -districts for coffee-culture stretch north of Taiz to Lohaia and Kankaban -and Sana, and the variety of the product depends mostly on the elevation -of the plantation. There are three distinct stages in its culture. First -the seed is prepared by removing the shell or pericarp; it is then mingled -with wood ashes and dried in the shade. Then the seed is planted in -prepared beds of rich soil, mingled with manure; the beds are covered -with branches of trees to protect the young plants from the heat of the sun -and they are watered every six or seven days. Lastly after six weeks -the plants are carefully removed from the ground and planted in rows at -a distance of two or three feet from each other. After two or three years -the coffee-tree begins to yield.</p> - -<p>The gardens in Yemen are all constructed in terraces along the mountain-side -and are exceedingly beautiful when the plant is in full bloom. -When the berries are ripe they are plucked from the tree and dried in the -sun; afterwards packed in gunnybags they are sent to the coast. The -Arabs of Yemen seldom use the bean in making coffee but utilize the -shell or husk; the beverage is less strong, more sweet and of course -cheaper. Coffee is sown in March, budding begins in May, and the crop -is gathered in September. A great deal of Yemen coffee finds its way -overland to the interior of Arabia in addition to the export to Aden and -Hodeida; Mokha was once the great emporium but has utterly decayed -and now consists of only a few houses in ruined condition and a dilapidated -Mosque.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_416"></a>416</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Appendix_IV">Appendix IV<br /> - -<small>AN ARABIAN BIBLIOGRAPHY</small></h2></div> - - -<p>A. The Geography of Arabia</p> - -<ul> -<li> -Andrew, (Sir W. P.)—The Euphrates Valley Route (London, 1882).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Barthema, (Ludovico.)—Travels in Arabia translated by R. Eden (1576).</li> - -<li>Begum of Bhopal—Pilgrimage to Mecca (London, 1870).</li> - -<li>Bent, (Theodore and Mrs.)—South Arabia (London, 1899).</li> - -<li>Blunt, (Lady Ann.)—A pilgrimage to Nedj, 2 vols. (London, 1883).</li> -<li class="isub1"> ” —The Bedouins of the Euphrates (London, 1879).</li> - -<li>Buist, (Dr.)—Physical Geography of the Red Sea (no date).</li> - -<li>Burckhardt, (John Lewis.)—Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabis, 2 vols. (London, 1830; in German, Weimar, 1831).</li> - -<li>Burckhardt, (John Lewis.)—Travels in Arabia, 2 vols. (London, 1830).</li> - -<li>Burton, (Richard.)—Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El Medina and Mecca (London, 1857).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Chesney—Survey of the Euphrates and Tigris, 4 vols. (London, 1850).</li> - -<li>Cloupet—Nouveau Voyage dans l’Arabie Heureuse en 1788 (Paris, 1810).</li> - -<li>Constable, (Capt. C. G., and Lieut. A. W. Stiffe.)—The Persian Gulf Pilot (London, 1870, 1893).</li> - -<li>Cruttenden, (C. J.)—Journal of an excursion to Sana’a the capital of Yemen (Bombay, 1838).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Doughty, (C. M.)—Arabia Deserta, 2 vols. (Cambridge, 1888).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Fogg, (W. P.)—Arabistan (London, 1875).</li> - -<li>Forster—The Historical Geography of Arabia, 2 vols. (London, 1844).</li> - -<li>Frede, (P.)—La Peche aux Perles en Perse et a Ceylan (Paris, 1890).</li> - -<li>Fresnel—Lettres in Journal Asiatique iii. Series v. 521.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Galland—Recueil des Rites et Ceremonies du Pelerinage de la Mecque (Amsterdam, 1754).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Haig, (F. T., Maj. Gen.)—A Journey through Yemen. Proceedings of the Roy. Geog. Soc. of London, vol. ix., No. 8.</li> - -<li>Harris, (W. B.)—A Journey through Yemen (London, 1893).</li> - -<li>Hunter, (F. M.)—Statistical Account of the British Settlement of Aden (London, 1877).</li> - -<li>Hurgronje, (Snouck.)—Mekka, mit bilder atlas, 2 vols. (Hague, 1888). -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_417"></a>417</span></li> - -<li>Irwin, (Eyle.)—Adventures in a voyage up the Red Sea on the coasts of Arabia, etc., in 1777 (London, 1780).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Jaubert—Geographie d’Edresi (in Arabic and French, Paris, 1836).</li> - -<li>Jomard—Études Geog. et Hist. sur l’Arabie (in vol. iii. Mengin’s History of Egypt).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">King, (J. S.)—Description of the island of Perim (Bombay Government Records No. 49).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">La Roque—A voyage to Arabia the Happy, etc. (London, 1726).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Makramah, (Aboo Abd Allah ibn Achmed.)—A Manuscript History of Aden (see Hunter’s account).</li> - -<li>Manzoni—El Yemen; Tre anni nell’Arabia felicè (Rome, 1884).</li> - -<li>Michaelis—Receuil de Questiones proposeès a une Societê de Savants qui par ordre de Sa Majestie Danoise font le voyage de l’Arabic (Amsterdam, 1774).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Niebuhr, (Carsten.)—Original edition in German (Copenhagen, 1772).</li> -<li class="isub1">” ” —In French edition (Amsterdam, 1774).</li> - -<li>Niebuhr, (Carsten.)—Travels through Arabia trans. into English by Robert Heron, 2 vols. (Edinburgh, 1792).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Ouseley, (Sir W.)—Oriental Geography of Ibn Haukal.</li> -<li class="isub2">” ” ” —Travels in Persia and Arabia, 3 vols. (London, 1800).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Palgrave—Travels in Eastern Arabia (London, 1863).</li> - -<li>Parsons, (Abraham.)—Travels in Asia ... including Mocha and Suez (London, 1808).</li> - -<li>Phillips—Map of Arabia and Egypt with index (London, 1888).</li> - -<li>Prideaux—Some recent discoveries in Southwest Arabia (Proceedings Soc. Bib. Archaelogy, London).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Sachau—Am Euphrat und Tigris. Reisenotizen, 1897-98 (Leipzig, 1900).</li> - -<li>Schapira—Travels in Yemen (1877).</li> - -<li>Seetzen—Travels in Yemen (1810).</li> - -<li>Sprenger, (A.)—Die alte Geographie Arabiens als Grundlage der Entwicklungsgeschichte des Semitismus (Berne, 1875).</li> - -<li>Sprenger, (A.)—Die Post und Reiserouten des Orients (1864).</li> - -<li>Stanley, (Dean.)—Sinai and Palestine.</li> - -<li>Stern, (Rev. A.)—A journey to Sana’a in 1856 (Jewish Intelligencer, vol. xxiii., pp. 101 seq.).</li> - -<li>Stevens—Yemen (1873).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Taylor, (Bayard.)—Travels in Arabia (New York). Various editions.</li> - -<li>Tuck—Essay on Sinaitic Inscriptions in the Journal of German Oriental Society, vol. xiv., pp. 129 seq.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Van den Berg, (L. W. C.)—Hadramaut and the Arabian colonies in the Indian Archipelago. Translated from the Dutch by Major Seeley (Bombay Govt. Records No. 212 new series).</li> - - -<li><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_418"></a>418</span></li> - -<li>Van Maltzen, (H. I.)—Reisen in Arabien (Braunschweig, 1873).</li> - -<li>Vincent’s—Periplus of the Erythrean Sea.</li> - -<li>Von Wrede, (Adolph.)—Reise in Hadramaut.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Wellstead, (Lieutenant.)—Travels in Arabia (London, 1838).</li> -<li class="isub1">” ” —Narrative of a journey to the ruins of Nakeb el Hajar (Journal Roy. Geo. Soc. vii. 20).</li> - -<li>Whish—Memoir on Bahrein (1859).</li> - -<li>Wüstenfeld (F.)—Baherein und Jemameh.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Zehm (Albrecht.)—Arabie seit Hundert Jahren (Halle, 1875).</li> -</ul> - - -<h3>B. Manners and Customs<a id="FNanchor_169" href="#Footnote_169" class="fnanchor">[169]</a></h3> -<ul> -<li> -Arabian Nights—(Various editions).</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Baillie, (N. B. E.)—The Mohammedan law of sale (London, 1850).</li> -<li class="isub3"> —Mohammedan Law Hanifi code (London, 1865).</li> -<li class="isub3"> —Mohammedan Law Imamia code (London, 1869).</li> - -<li>Boyle, (J. B. S.)—Manual of Mohammedan Laws (Lahore, 1873).</li> - -<li>Burckhardt’s—Arabic Proverbs (London).</li> -<li class="isub2"> —Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabis, (London, 1831).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Grady, (S. G.)—The Mohammedan Law of inheritance (London, 1869).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Hamilton, (Charles.)—Hedaya or Guide; a commentary on the Mussulman Laws (London, 1886).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Jessup, (H. H.)—Women of the Arabs (New York, 1874).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Kremer, (Alfred Von.)—Kultur Geschichte des Orients, 2 vols. (Wien, 1875-77).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Lane’s—Manners and Customs of Modern Egyptians, 2 vols. (London).</li> -<li class="isub1"> —Arabian Nights, with Notes, 4 vols. (London).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Meer, (Mrs. Hassan Ali.)—Observations on the Mussulmans (London, 1832).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Rumsey, (Almaric.)—Mohammedan law of Inheritance (London, 1886).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Smith, (Robertson.)—The Religion of the Semites (New York, 1889).</li> -<li class="isub3"> —Kinship and Marriage in early Arabia (Cambridge).</li> - -<li>Syeed, (Ameer Ali.)—Personal law of Mohammedans (London, 1880).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Tornauw—Das Moslemische Recht (1885).</li> - -<li>Trumbull, (H. C.)—The Blood Covenant (Philadelphia, 1891).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Von Hammer, (Purgstall.)—Die Geisterlehre der Moslimen (Wien, 1852). -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_419"></a>419</span></li> - - -<li>C. History of Arabia.<a id="FNanchor_170" href="#Footnote_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a></li> - -<li> -Abu Jaafer Muhammed et Tabbari—Tarikh el mulook; Arabic and Latin. Edit. Kosegarten (Leipsic, 1754).</li> - -<li>Abulfida—Annales Muslemici. Arab. et Latin. Various editions.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Badger, (George Percy.)—History of the Imams and Seyyids of Oman by Salil Ibn Razik from <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span>, 661-1856. Trans. with intro. and notes (London, 1871).</li> - -<li>Blau, Otto—Arabien im Sechsten Jahrhundert. Zeitschrift des Deutsch. Morgenland. Gesel. xviii. B.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Clark, E. L.—The Arabs and the Turks (Boston).</li> - -<li>Crichton—History of Arabia and its people (London, 1844).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">D’Herbelot—Bibliotheque Orientale (Maestricht, 1776).</li> - -<li>Doughty, (C.)—Documents epigraphiques recueillis dans le nord de l’Arabie (avec préface et traduction des inscriptions nabatéennes de Medain-Salih par E. Renan). With 57 plates 4to. (Paris, 1884.)</li> - -<li>Dozy, R.—De Israeliten te Mekka (Leyden, 1864).</li> -<li class="isub2"> —Essai sur l’Histoire del’ Islamisme (Paris, 1879).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Eichhorn—Monumenta Antiquissima Hist. Arabum (Gotha, 1775).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Faria y Souza—Manuel de Asia Portuguesa (Lisbon, 1666).</li> - -<li>Flügel, Gustav—Geschichte der Araber bis auf den sturz des Chalifats von Bagdad, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1864).</li> - -<li>Forster, Rev. C—The historical geography of Arabia (London, 1844).</li> - -<li>Freeman—History of the Saracens.</li> - -<li>Fresnel—Lettres sur hist. des Arabes avant l’Islamisme. Journal Asiatique (1838-1853).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Gibbon’s—Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Chaps. l., li., lii.).</li> - -<li>Gilman, A.—The Saracens (Story of Nations) (London, 1891).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Haji Khalifah—Hist. of the Maritime wars of the Turks. Translated from the Turkish by James Mitchell (London, 1831).</li> - -<li>Hallam’s—History of the Middle Ages (Chapter vi.).</li> - -<li>Hammer-Purgstall—Gemäldesaal der Lebensbeschreibungen grosser Moslimischer Herrscher (Leipzig, 1837).</li> - -<li>Hamza Ispahanensis—Tarikh Saniy Mulook el Ardh, Arab. Lat. ed. Gottwaldt (St. Petersburg, 1844).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Jergis El Mekin—Hist. Saracenica Arab. et Lat. (Leyden, 1625).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Khuzraji, Ali bin Hoosain El—History of Yemen (<i>MSS.</i> in Records of Residency at Aden).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Milman’s—Latin Christianity Bk. iv. chaps, i., ii.</li> - -<li>Muir—Annals of Early Caliphate (London, 1883). (See under D. Islam).</li> -<li class="isub1">” —The Caliphate, its Rise, Decline and Fall (London, 1891). -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_420"></a>420</span></li> - -<li>Ockley, S.—History of the Saracens (London, 1708).</li> - -<li>Perceval, A. P. Caussin de—Essai sur l’Histoire des Arabes avant Islamisme (Paris, 1836).</li> - -<li>Playfair, R. L.—History of Arabia Felix (Bombay, 1859.)</li> - -<li>Pocock, Eduardo—Specimen Hist. Arab. ex Abul Feda (Oxford, 1650).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Quartremere—Memoire sur les Nabatheen.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Rasmussen—Addimenta ad Hist. Arab. ante Islam.</li> - -<li>Redhouse, J. W.—A Tentative Chronological Synopsis of the history of Arabia and its neighbors from B. C. 500000 [!] to A. D. 679 (London, 1890).</li> - -<li>Roesch, A.—Die Königin von Saba als Königin Bilquis (Leipzig, 1880).</li> - -<li>Rycant—The present state of the Ottoman Empire (London, 1675).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Sachaŭ, C. Edward—The Chronology of Ancient Nations; an English version of Arabic “Vestiges of the past,” A. H. 390-1000 (London, 1885).</li> - -<li>Schmölder—Sur les Ecoles Philosophique chez les Arabes (Paris, 1842).</li> - -<li>Schulten—Hist. Imperii vetus Joctanidarum (Hard. Gelderland, 1786).</li> -<li class="isub2"> —Monumenta Vetustiora Arab (Leyden, 1740).</li> - -<li>Sedillot—Hist. gen. des Arabes (Paris, 1877). (Best general history.)</li> - -<li>Souza—Documentos Arabicos para a hist. Portuguesa (Lisbon, 1790).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Weil, Gustav—Geschichte der Chalifen, 3 vols. (Mannheim, 1846-51).</li> -<li class="isub1"> —Geschichte der Islamisher Völker von Mohammed bis zur Zeit des Sultan Selim (Stuttgart, 1866).</li> - -<li>Wüstenfeld, F.—Die Geschichtschreiber der Araber und ihrer Werke (Göttingen, 1882).</li> - -<li>Wüstenfeld, F.—Vergleichungs Tabellen der Muh. und Christ. Zeitrechnung (Leipzig, 1854).</li> - -<li>Wüstenfeld, F.—Die Chroniken der Stadt Mekka gesammelt, und herausgegeben, Arab. Deutsch, 4 vols. (Leipzig, 1857).</li> - -<li>Wüstenfeld, F.—Genealogische Tabellen der Arabische Stämme (Göttingen, 1852).</li> -</ul> - - -<h3>D. Islam</h3> -<ul> -<li> -Addison, Lancelot—State of Mahumedism (London, 1679).</li> - -<li>Akehurst, Rev. G.—Impostures instanced in the life of Mohammed (London, 1859).</li> - -<li>Alcock, N.—The rise of Mohammedanism accounted for (London, 1796).</li> - -<li>Anonymous—Life of Mohammed (London, 1799).</li> -<li class="isub2"> —Reflections on Mohammedanism (London, 1735).</li> -<li class="isub2"> —The morality of the East as extracted from the Koran (London, 1766).</li> - -<li>Arnold, Matthew—Essay on Persian Miracle Play (London, 1871).</li> -<li class="isub2"> Edwin—Pearls of the Faith (Boston, 1883).</li> -<li class="isub2"> J. M.—Ishmael, or the natural aspect of Islam (London, 1859). -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_421"></a>421</span></li> - -<li> -Arnold, J. M.—Islam and Christianity (London, 1874).</li> - -<li class="isub1"> T. W.—The Preaching of Islam: A history of the Propagation of the Muslim faith (London, 1896).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Bate, J. D.—Claims of Ishmael (Benares, 1884).</li> - -<li>Bedwell, W.—Mahomet’s Imposture (London, 1615).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Mahomet unmasked (London, 1642).</li> - -<li>Beverly, R. M.—A reply to Higgins [See Higgins,] 1829.</li> - -<li>Blochman, H.—’Ain i Akbari of Abdul Fadhl, (Eng. trans.) (Calcutta, 1868).</li> - -<li>Blunt, W. S.—The Future of Islam (London, 1881).</li> - -<li>Blyden—Islam, Christianity and the Negro Race (London, 1888).</li> - -<li>Bonlainvilliers, Count—Life of Mohammed. Translation. (London, 1731).</li> - -<li>Brinckman, A.—Notes on Islam (London, 1868).</li> - -<li>Brydges, H. J.—History of the Wahabis (London, 1834).</li> - -<li>Burton, R. F.—The Jew, the Gipsey and El Islam (London, 1898).</li> - -<li>Bush, Rev. George—Life of Mohammed (New York, 1844).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Carlyle, Thos.—Heroes and Hero-Worship (London, 1840).</li> - -<li>Cazenhove, Dr.—Mahometanism (Christian Remembrancer, Jan., 1855).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Daumer, G. F.—Mahomed und sein Werk (Hamburg, 1848).</li> - -<li>Davenport, John—Apology for Mohammed (London, 1869).</li> - -<li>De Goeje—Memoire sur les Carmathes de Baherein (Leyden, 1863).</li> - -<li>Deutsch, Emanuel—Essay on Islam (London, 1874).</li> - -<li>De Worde—A Lytell Treatyse of the Turkes Law called Alcoran (London).</li> - -<li>Dods, Marcus—Mohammed Buddha and Christ (London, 1878).</li> - -<li>Döllinger—Mohammed’s Religion nach ihrer Inneren Entwicklung und ihrem Einflüsse (Ratisbon, 1838).</li> - -<li>Dozy—L’Histoire d Islamisme (Leyden, 1879).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Het Islamisme (Leyden, 1879).</li> - -<li>Dugat, Gustave—Histoire des philos. et des theol. Musulmans de 632-1358 J. C. (Paris, 1878).</li> - -<li>Duveyrier, H.—La conferie Musulmane de Sidi Moh. bin Ali Es-Senonsi (Paris, 1886).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Falke R.—Budda, Mohammed, Christus; ein Göttingen Vergleich u. z. w. (Gütersloh, 1897).</li> - -<li>Forster, Rev. C.—Mahometanism unveiled, 2 vols. (London, 1829).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Gagnier, J.—Ismael Abulfeda, De Vita et Rebus gestis Mohammedis (Oxford, 1723).</li> - -<li>Galland—Recueil des Rites et Ceremonies du pelerinage de la Mecque (Amst., 1754).</li> - -<li>Garnett, L. M. J.—The Women of Turkey and their folk-lore (London, 1891).</li> - -<li>Geiger Rabbi—Was hat Mohammed aus das Judenthume aufgenommen? (Wiesbaden, 1833).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Judaism and Islam [translation of the above] (Madras, 1898). -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_422"></a>422</span></li> - -<li> -Georgens, E. P.—Der Islam und die moderne Kultur (Berlin, 1879).</li> - -<li>Gerock—Versuch einer Darstellung der Christologie des Korans (Hamburg, 1839).</li> - -<li>Gibbon—Decline and Fall of Roman Empire (in loco).</li> - -<li>Gmelin, M. F.—Christenschlaverei und der Islam (Berlin, 1873).</li> - -<li>Guyard, S.—La civilization Musulmane (Paris, 1884).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Haines, C. R.—Islam as a Missionary Religion (London, 1888).</li> - -<li>Hamilton, C.—The Hedayah, a commentary on Moslem law. Trans. (London, 1791.) (Edition by Grady, 1890).</li> - -<li>Hauri, Johannes—Der Islam in seinem Einfluss auf das Leben seiner Bekenner(Leyden, 1880).</li> - -<li>Herclots, Dr.—Qanoon-el-Islam (London, 1832).</li> - -<li>Higgins, G.—An Apology for the life of Mohammed (London, 1829).</li> - -<li>Hughes, F. P.—Notes on Mohammedanism (London, 1875).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Dictionary of Islam (New York and London, 1885).</li> - -<li>Hurgronje, C. Snouck—Het Mekkaansche Feest (Leyden, 1880).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Mekka: mit bilder atlas, (The Hague, 1880).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Inchbald, Rev. P.—Animadversions on Higgins, (Doncaster, 1830).</li> - -<li>Irving, Washington—Life of Mahomet (London, 1850).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Successors of Mahomet (London, 1852).</li> - -<li>Jansen, H.—Verbreitung des Islams, u. z. w., in den verschiedenen, Landern der Erde, 1890-1897 (Berlin, 1898).</li> - -<li>Jessup, H. H.—The Mohammedan Missionary Problem (Phila., 1889).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Keller, A.—Der Geisteskampf des Christentums gegen den Islam bis zur Zeit der Kreuzzüge (Leipzig, 1897).</li> - -<li>Koelle, S. W.—Mohammed and Mohammedanism critically considered (London, 1888).</li> - -<li>Koelle, S. W.—Food for Reflection (London, 1865).</li> - -<li><span class="smcap">Koran</span>: (Editions and translations).</li> -<li class="isub1">—English versions: Alexander Ross (from French, 1649-1688), Sale (1734), Rodwell (1861), Palmer (1880).</li> -<li class="isub1">—First Arabic, <i>printed text</i>, at Rome, 1530 (Brixiensis).</li> -<li class="isub1">Arabic text, Hinkelmann (Hamburg, 1649).</li> -<li class="isub3">and Latin text,—Maracci (Padua, 1698).</li> -<li class="isub2">text—Empress Catherine II. (St. Petersburg, 1787).</li> -<li><span style="margin-left: 17em;">( ” 1790, 1793, 1796, 1798).</span></li> -<li class="isub2">text—Empress Catherine II. (Kasan, 1803, 1809, 1839).</li> -<li class="isub1">(critical edition) G. Flügel, (Leipzig, 1834, 1842, 1869).</li> -<li class="isub1">—French, Savary (1783) and Kasimirski (Paris, 1840, 1841, 1857).</li> -<li class="isub1">—French version, Du Ryer (Paris, 1647).</li> -<li class="isub1">—German versions: Boysen (1773), Wahl (1828), Ullmann (1840, 1853).</li> -<li class="isub1">—German version, Schweigger (Nurnberg, 1616).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Latin version, Robert and Hermann (Basle, 1543).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Russian version (St. Petersburg, 1776).<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_423"></a>423</span></li> -<li class="isub1">Translations exist also in the other European languages; and in -Persian, Urdu, Pushto, Turkish, Javan, and Malayan made by Moslems.</li> - -<li><span class="smcap">Koran Commentaries</span>:—(“There are no less than 20,000 in the library at Tripolis alone”—Arnold’s - Islam and Christianity, p. 81). The most important are,—(Sunni)—</li> -<li class="isub2">Al Baghawi, A. H. 515.</li> -<li class="isub2">Al Baidhawi, A. H. 685.</li> -<li class="isub2">Al Jalalain, A. H. 864 and 911.</li> -<li class="isub2">Al Mazhari, A. H. 1225.</li> -<li class="isub2">Al Mudarik, A. H. 701.</li> -<li class="isub2">Ar-Razi (30 vols.), A. H. 606.</li> -<li class="isub2">As-Safi, A. H. 668.</li> -<li class="isub2">As-sirru’l wajiz, A. H. 715.</li> -<li class="isub2">At-Tafsir ’l Kebir, A. H. 606.</li> -<li class="isub2">Azizi, A. H. 1239, (and Shiah).</li> -<li class="isub2">Az-Zamakhshari, A. H. 604.</li> -<li class="isub2">Hussain, A. H. 900.</li> -<li class="isub2">Ibn u’l Arabi, A. H. 628.</li> -<li class="isub2">Mir Bakir, A. H. 1041.</li> -<li class="isub2">Saiyid Hasham, A. H. 1160.</li> -<li class="isub2">Sheikh Saduk, A. H. 381.</li> - -<li>Krehl, C. L. E.—Das leben des Moham. (Leipzig, 1884).</li> - -<li>Kremer, Von Alfred—Geschichte der Herrschende Ideen des Islams: Der Gottsbegriff, die Prophetie und Staatsidee (Leipzig, 1868).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">La Chatelier, A.—L’Islam an XIX<sup><i>e</i></sup> siècle (Paris, 1888).</li> - -<li>Lake, J. J.—Islam, its origin, genius and mission (London, 1878).</li> - -<li>Lamairesse, E., (et G. Dujarric.)—Vie de Mahomet d’apres la tradition, vol. i. (Paris, 1898).</li> - -<li>Lane-Poole, Stanley—Studies in a Mosque (London, 1883).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Table-talk of Mohammed (London, 1882).</li> - -<li>Lane—Selections from the Koran (London, 1879).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">MacBride, J. D.—The Mohammedan Religion Explained (London, 1859).</li> - -<li>Maitland, E.—England and Islam (London, 1877).</li> - -<li>Marracio, L.—Refutatio Al Coran (Batavii, 1698).</li> - -<li>Martyn, Henry—Controversial Tracts on Christianity and Islam, by the Rev. S. Lee (edited Cambridge, 1824).</li> - -<li>Matthews—The Mishkat (traditions) translation (Calcutta, 1809).</li> - -<li>Merrick, J. L.—The life and religion of Mohammed from Sheeah traditions (translated from Persian) (Boston, 1850).</li> - -<li>Mills, C.—The History of Muhammedanism (London, 1817).</li> - -<li>Mills, W. H.—The Muhammedan System (—1828).</li> - -<li>Mochler, J. A.—The relation of Islam to the Gospel (translation) (Calcutta, 1847).</li> - -<li>Mohler, J. A.—Ueber das Verhaltniss des Islams zum Evangelium (1830).</li> - -<li>Morgan, Joseph—Mohammedanism Explained (London, 1723).</li> - -<li>Muir, Sir William—Life of Mahomet, 4 vols. (London, 1858 and 1897).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Rise and Decline of Islam (in Present Day Tracts, London, 1887).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Mahomet and Islam (London, 1890).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Sweet First Fruits. Translated from Arabic. (London, 1896).</li> -<li class="isub1">—The apology of Al Kindy, translated from Arabic (London, 1887).</li> - -<li>Muir, Sir William—The Coran: Its composition and teaching and the testimony it bears to the Holy Scriptures (London, 1878).</li> - -<li>Muir, Sir William—The Beacon of Truth (from Arabic) (London, 1897.)<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_424"></a>424</span></li> -<li class="isub1">—The Caliphate (London, 1897).</li> -<li class="isub1">—The Mohammedan Controversy (Edinburgh, 1897).</li> - -<li>Müller, F. A.—Der Islam im Morgen und Abendlanden (Berlin, 1885).</li> - -<li>Murray, Rev. W.—Life of Mohammed, according to Abu El Fida (Elgin, no date).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Neale, F. A.—Islamism, its Rise and Progress (London, 1854).</li> - -<li>Niemann, G. K.—Inleiding tot de keunisvanden Islam (Rotterdam, 1861).</li> - -<li>Nöldecke, T.—Geschichte des Qurans (Göttingen, 1860).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Das Leben Muhammeds (Hanover, 1863).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Oelsner, C. E.—Des effets de la religion de Mohammed (Paris, 1810).</li> - -<li>Osborn, Major—Islam under the Arabs (London, 1876).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Islam under the Caliphs (London, 1878).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Pfander, Doctor—The Mizan El Hak (translated from Persian) (London, 1867).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Miftah ul Asrar (Persian) (Calcutta, 1839).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Tarik ul Hyat, Persian (Calcutta, 1840).</li> - -<li>Palgrave, W. G.—Essays on Eastern Question (London, 1872).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Travels in Central and Eastern Arabia.</li> - -<li>Palmer, E. H.—The Koran translated, 2 vols. (Oxford, 1880).</li> - -<li>Pelly, Lewis—The Miracle Play of Hasan and Hussain (London, 1879).</li> - -<li>Perron—L’Islamisme, Son Institutions, etc. (Paris, 1877).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Femmes Arabes avant et depuis l’Islamisme (Paris, 1858).</li> - -<li>Pitts, Joseph—Religion and manners of Mahometans (Oxford, 1704).</li> - -<li>Prideaux, H.—The True Nature of the Imposture fully explained (London, 1718).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Rabadan—Mahometanism (Spanish and Arabic) 1603.</li> - -<li>Reland (and others)—Four Treatises (on Islam) (London, 1712).</li> - -<li>Rodwell, J. M.—The Koran, Translated (London, 1871).</li> - -<li>Roebuck, J. A.—Life of Mahomet (London, 1833).</li> - -<li>Ross, Alexander—The Koran (London, 1642).</li> - -<li>Rumsey, A.—Al Sirajiyeh. Translated (London, 1869).</li> - -<li>Ryer, Andre du—Life of Mahomet (London, 1718).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Sale—Translation of the Koran with preliminary discourse (London, 1734).</li> - -<li>Scholl, Jules Charles—L’Islam et son fondateur: Étude morale (Neuchatel, 1874).</li> - -<li>Sell, Rev. E.—The Faith of Islam (Madras, 1880 and London, 1897).</li> -<li class="isub1">—The Historical Development of the Quran (Madras, 1898).</li> - -<li>Smith, Bosworth—Mohammed and Mohammedanism (London, 1876).</li> - -<li>Smith, H. P.—The Bible and Islam (New York and London, 1897).</li> - -<li>Sprenger, Aloys—Das Leben und die Lehre des Mohammed, 3 vols. (Berlin, 1865).</li> - -<li>Sprenger, A.—Life of Mohammed from original sources (Allahabad, 1851).</li> - -<li>Steinschneider, Moritz—Polemische Literatur in Arabischer Sprache (Leipzig, 1877).</li> - -<li>Stevens, W. R. W.—Christianity and Islam (London, 1877).</li> - - -<li><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_425"></a>425</span></li> - -<li> -St. Hilaire, T. Bartholomew de—Mahomet et le Coran (Paris, 1865).</li> - -<li>Stobart, J. W. H.—Islam and its Founder (London, 1876).</li> - -<li>Syeed, Ahmed Khan—Essays on the life of Mohammed (London, 1870).</li> - -<li>Syeed, Ameer Ali—A critical examination of the life and teachings of Mohammed (London, 1873).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Tassy, Garcin de—L’Islamisme d’apres le Coran (Paris, 1874).</li> - -<li>Taylor, W. C.—The Hist. of Mohammedanism (London, 1834).</li> - -<li>Thiersant, P. Dabry de—Le Mahometisme en Chine (Paris, 1878).</li> - -<li>Tisdall, W. St. Clair—The Religion of the Crescent (London, 1896).</li> - -<li>Turpin, F. H.—Hist. de la vie de Mahomet, 3 vols. (Paris, 1773).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Wallich, J.—Religio Turcia et Mahometis Vita (1659).</li> - -<li>Weil, Gustav—Das Leben Mohammeds; nach Ibn Ishak bearbeit von Ibn Hisham, 2 vols. (Stuttgart, 1864).</li> - -<li>Weil, Gustav—Historische-Kritische Einleitung in den Koran (Bielefeld, 1844).</li> - -<li>Wherry, E. M.—Commentary on the Quran, 5 vols. (London, 1882).</li> - -<li>White, J.—Bampton Lectures (on Islam) (Oxford, 1784).</li> - -<li>Wollaston, Arthur N.—Half Hours with Mohammed (London, 1890).</li> - -<li>Wortabet, John—Researches into Religions of Syria (London, 1860).</li> - -<li>Wüstenfeld, H. F.—Das Leben Muhammeds, 3 vols. (Göttingen, 1857.)</li> -<li class="isub1">—Geschichte der Stadt Mekka, 4 vols. (Leipzig, 1857-61).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Zotenberg—Tareek-i-Tabari. Translated.</li> - -<li>Zwemer, S. M.—The Wahabis. Victoria Institute (London, 1900).</li> - - - -<li class="ifrst">E. Christianity and Missions<a id="FNanchor_171" href="#Footnote_171" class="fnanchor">[171]</a></li> - -<li> -Birks, Herbert—Life and Correspondence of Bishop T. V. French (London, 1895).</li> - -<li>Jessup, H. H.—The Setting of the Crescent and the Rising of the Cross or Kamil Abdul Messiah (Philadelphia, 1898).</li> -<li class="isub1">—The Mohammedan Missionary Problem (Phila., 1879).</li> - -<li>Sinker, Robert—Memoir of Ion Keith Falconer (Cambridge, 1886).</li> - -<li><i>The Arabian Mission.</i> Quarterly Letters, Annual Reports, and special papers on missionary journeys from 1890-1899 (New York).</li> - -<li>Wright, Thomas—Early Christianity in Arabia; a historical essay (London, 1855). This book gives a complete account of the early spread of Christianity and cites authorities, which, being mostly in Latin, are omitted here.</li> - - - -<li class="ifrst">F. Language and Literature</li> - -<li> -Abcarius—English-Arabic Dictionary (Beirut, 1882).</li> - -<li>Ahlwardt, W.—The Divans of the six ancient Arabic Poets (London, 1890).</li> - - -<li><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_426"></a>426</span></li> - -<li> -Ahlwardt, W.—Über die Poesie und Poetiek der Araber (Gotha, 1856).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Bemerkungen über die ächtheit der Alten Arab. Gedichten (Griefswald, 1872).</li> - -<li>Arnold, F. A.—Arabic Chrestomathy, 2 parts (Halis, 1853).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Septem M’oallakat (Leipzig, 1850).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Badger, G. P.—English-Arabic Lexicon (London, 1881).</li> - -<li>Birdwood, Allan B.—An Arabic Reading Book (London, 1891).</li> - -<li>Butrus al Bustani—An Encyclopædia in Arabic, vols. i.-ix. (1876-84).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Cadri, Moh.—Guide to Arab. Conversation (Alexandria, 1879).</li> - -<li>Caspari, C. P.—Arab. Grammatik (Halle, 1876).</li> - -<li>Caussin de Perceval—Grammaire Arabe. (Paris, 1880).</li> - -<li>Cheikho, P. L.—Chrestomathia Arabica cum lexico variisque notis (Beirut, 1897).</li> - -<li>Clodius, J. C.—Gram. Arabica (Leipzig, 1729).</li> - -<li>Clouston—Arabic Poetry for English Readers (Glasgow, 1889).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">De Goeje, Prof.—A complete account of the authorship, etc., of the Arabian Nights (“De Gids,” Amsterdam, Sept., 1886).</li> - -<li>Derenbourg, H. and Spiro J.—Chrestomathy (Paris, 1885).</li> - -<li>Dieterici, Fr.—Thier und Mensch vor dem König der Genien u. z. w. (Leipzig, 1881).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Arabisch-Deutsches Wörterbuch zum Koran und Thier und Mensch (Leipzig, 1881).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Die Arabische Dicht-Kunst (Berlin, 1850).</li> - -<li>Dombay, Fr. de—Gram. Mauro-Arab. (Vindob., 1800).</li> - -<li>Dozy, R. P. A.—Supplément aux dictionnaires Arabes, 2 vols. (Leyden, 1877).</li> -<li class="isub1">—[And many other monographs on the language.]</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Erpenius, Th.—Grammatica, etc. (Leyden, 1767).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Rudimenta Linguae Arabicae, Ed. A. Schultens (Leyden, 1770).</li> - -<li>Euting—Katalog der Arabischen Literatur (Strassburg, 1877).</li> - -<li>Ewald, G. H. A.—Gram. Critica linq. Arab., 2 vols. (Lips., 1831).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Farhat, G.—Dict. Arabe-Française (Marseilles, 1849).</li> - -<li>Faris Es Shidiac—Arab. Gram. (London, 1856).</li> - -<li>Fleischer, H. L.—Tausend und eine Nacht (text and notes, 12 vols.) (Breslau, 1825-43).</li> - -<li>Fleischer, M. H. L.—Arabische Sprüche u. z. w. (Leipzig, 1837).</li> - -<li>Flügel, G.—Die Grammatischen Schulen der Araber nach den Quellen bearbeitet (Leipzig, 1862).</li> - -<li>Flügel—Kitab El Fihrist; with German notes (Leipzig, 1871-72).</li> - -<li>Flügel, Gustav—Lexicon Bibliographicum Arab., 7 vols. 4to. (Leipzig, 1835-58).</li> - -<li>Forbes, Duncan—Arabic Grammar.</li> - -<li>Freytag—Einleitung in das Studium der Arabischen Sprache (Bonn, 1861).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Lexicon, Arab. Lat., 4 vols. (Halis, 1830).</li> -<li><span style="margin-left: 9.5em;">(abridged Halis, 1837).</span></li> -<li class="isub1">—Arabum Proverbia (3 vols.) (Bonn, 1838).</li> - - -<li><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_427"></a>427</span></li> - - -<li> -Giggejus, A.—Thesaurus linq. Arabicae, 4 vols. (Medioland, 1632).</li> - -<li>Gies, H.—Zur kentniss sieben Arabischer Versarten (Leipzig, 1879).</li> - -<li>Girgass and De Rosen—Chrestomathy (German ed. 1875. Russian, St. Petersburg, 1876).</li> - -<li>Goeje, De M. J.—Debelangrykheid van de beoefening d. Arab. taal en letterkunde (Hague, 1866).</li> - -<li>Golius, J.—Lexicon Arab. Lat. (Leyden, 1653).</li> - -<li>Green, A. O.—A Practical Arabic Grammar (Oxford, 1887).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Hammer Van Purgstall—Literaturgeschichte der Araber: Von ihren beginne bis zum ende des Zwölfte Jahrhunderts der Hidschret, 7 vols. (Wein, 1850-56).</li> - -<li>Heury, J.—Vocab. French-Arab. (Beirut, 1881).</li> - -<li>Hirth, J. Fr.—Anthologia Arab. (Jenae, 1774).</li> - -<li>Hoefer’s Zeitschrift—Ueber die Himyarische Sprache (vol. i., 225 sq).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Jahn, J.—Arabische Chrestomathie (Wien, 1802).</li> - -<li>Jayaker, A. S. G.—The Omanese Dialect of Arabic, 2 parts (In Journal R. A. S., of Gt. Britain).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Kosengarten, J.—Arab. Chrestomathy (Leipzig, 1828).</li> - -<li>Kremer, A. von—Lexikographie Arab. (Vienna, 1883).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Lane, E. W.—An Arabic English Dictionary (i.-viii.) (London, 1863-89).</li> - -<li class="isub1">” W.—The Thousand and One Nights, with notes, edited, 3 vols. (London, 1841).</li> - -<li>Lansing, J. G.—Arabic Grammar (New York, 1890).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Mac Naghten, W. H.—Thousand and One Nights literally transl., 4 vols. (Calcutta, 1839).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Newman, F. W.—Dictionary, 2 vols. (London, 1890).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Handbook of Modern Arabic (London, 1890).</li> - -<li>Nöldeke, Th.—Beitrage zur Kentniss d. Poesie d. alten Araber, (Hanover, 1864).</li> - -<li>Nöldeke, T.—Funf Mo’allqāt, übersetzt und erklärt. II. Die Mo’allaqāt Antara’s und Labid’s, 8 vo. (Vienna, 1900).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Oberleitner, A.—Chrestomathia Arab. (Vienna, 1824).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Palmer, E. H.—Arabic Grammar (London, 1890).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Arabic Manual (London, 1890).</li> - -<li>Perowne, J. J. S.—Adjrumiah, translated with Arabic voweled text (Cambridge, 1852).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Richardson—Arab. Persian English Dictionary (London, 1852).</li> - -<li>Richardson, J. A.—Gram. of Arabic Language (London, 1811).</li> - -<li>Rosenmüller, E. F. C.—Grammar (Leipzig, 1818).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Sacy, A. J. Sylvestre de—An Arabic Grammar.</li> -<li class="isub1">—Arabic Chrestomathy, 4 vols. (Paris, 1829).</li> - -<li>Salmone, H. A.—Arabic-English Dictionary on a new system. Vol. I. contains the Arabic-English part, xviii. and 1254 pp. Vol. II. contains an English-Arabic key, referring every word to the Arabic equivalent in the first volume, 2 vols. (London, 1890).</li> - -<li>Socin, A.—Arabische Grammatik (Berlin, 1889).</li> - -<li>Steingass, F.—Arab.-Eng. and Eng.-Arab. Dict. (London, 1890).</li> - - -<li><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_428"></a>428</span></li> - - -<li> -Tien, A.—Handbook of Arabic (London, 1890).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Manual of Colloquial Arab. (London, 1890).</li> - -<li>Trumpp, E.—Einleitung in das Studium der Arabischen Grammatiker (Münich, 1876).</li> - -<li>Tychsen, O. G.—Elementale Arabicum (1792).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Van Dyck, C. C. A.—Suggestions to beginners in the study of Arabic (Beirut, 1892).</li> - -<li>Vollers—Ægypto-Arab. Sprache (Cairo, 1890).</li> - -<li>Vriemoet, E. L.—Grammar (Franeker, 1733).</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Wahrmund, A.—Arab. Deutsch Handworter buch, 2 vols. (Giessen, 1887).</li> -<li class="isub1">—Handbuch der Arab. Sprache (Giessen, 1866).</li> - -<li>Winckler, J. L. W.—Arab. Sprachlehre nebst Wörterbuch (Leipzig, 1862).</li> - -<li>Wright, W.—Arabic Reading Book (London, 1870).</li> -</ul> - -<p class="xs">[<span class="smcap">Note.</span>—For other Arabic Lexicons, Grammars and Manuals consult Oriental catalogues -of: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., London; F. A. Brockhaus, Leipzig; -and E. J. Brill, Bibliothéque Orientale, Leyden.]</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_429"></a>429</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Index">Index</h2> - -<p class="pcntr"><small>[<i>See also Table of Contents</i>]</small></p></div> - -<ul> -<li> -Abd-ul-Wahab, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.</li> - -<li>Abdulla bin Rashid, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</li> - -<li>Abraha, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>.</li> - -<li>Abraham, God’s promises to, <a href="#Page_401">401</a>.</li> - -<li>Abyssinian invasion of Arabia, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>.</li> - -<li>Accessibility of Arabia (see Open doors), <a href="#Page_375">375</a>.</li> - -<li>Adam, Tradition of the fall of, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li> - - -<li>Aden, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, 376.</li> -<li class="isub1">as a mission centre, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Tribes around, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.</li> - -<li>Aflaj, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</li> - -<li>Aftan, Wady, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, 99.</li> - -<li>Allah (see God), <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li> - -<li>Alphabet, Arabic, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</li> - -<li>Ali, Ruins at, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>.</li> - -<li>Ali’s footprint, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li> - -<li>Amara, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>.</li> - -<li>American Arabian mission, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Rifles in Arabia, <a href="#Page_66">66</a><i>n</i>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.</li> - -<li>Amulets (see charms), <a href="#Page_283">283</a>.</li> - -<li>Anaeze tribe, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</li> - -<li>Animals of Arabia, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li> - -<li>Arab architecture, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, 272.</li> -<li class="isub1">characteristics, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">genealogies, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">geographers, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</li> - -<li>Arab, The, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.</li> - -<li>Arabia, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Area of, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Boundaries of, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Felix (Yemen), <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</li> - -<li>Arabia in Moslem tradition, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li> - -<li>Arabian field, Problems of the, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">history, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">idolatry (see Idolatry), <a href="#Page_36">36</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">mission, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>.</li> -<li class="isub2">hymn, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>.</li> - -<li>Arabic language, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, 254.</li> -<li class="isub1">newspapers, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.</li> - -<li>Arabs, Classes of, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Origin of, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.</li> - -<li>Architecture, Arab, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.</li> - -<li>Arts, Arabian, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, 274.</li> - -<li>Ashera, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</li> - -<li>Asir, The Turks in, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</li> - -<li>Athar, Science of, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, 278.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Bagdad, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, 321.</li> -<li class="isub1">mission, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Turkish rule in, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Vilayet, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.</li> - -<li>Bahrein, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">huts, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_430"></a>430</span></li> - -<li> -Barka, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li> - -<li>Barny, F. J., <a href="#Page_366">366</a>.</li> - -<li>Bartholomew, St., Tradition as to, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</li> - -<li>Batina Coast, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</li> - -<li>Bayard Taylor (quoted), <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</li> - -<li>Bedaa, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li> - -<li>Bedouin, Attacked by, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">dress, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">life, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">tribes, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">tribes, Mission to, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">warfare, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, 364.</li> - -<li>Beit Allah, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, 35.</li> - -<li>Bent, Theodore, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</li> - -<li>Bible, Arabic, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, 316.</li> -<li class="isub1">depot in Bagdad, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">distribution in Arabia, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>.</li> - -<li>Black stone of Mecca, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, 36.</li> - -<li>Blood covenants, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">revenge, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, 265.</li> - -<li>Blunt, Lady Ann, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li> - -<li>British and Foreign Bible Society, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.</li> - -<li>British influence in Arabia, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</li> - -<li>Bruce, Robert, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.</li> - -<li>Buchanan, Claudius, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>.</li> - -<li>Bunder, Abbas, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Jissa, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li> - -<li>Burckhardt (quoted), <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li> - -<li>Burial place of Mohammed, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</li> - -<li>Burns, William, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>.</li> - -<li>Burton (quoted), <a href="#Page_282">282</a>.</li> - -<li>Busrah, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">mission, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Camel, Land of the, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Use and character, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, 247.</li> - -<li>Cantine, James, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>.</li> - -<li>Caravan journey from Bagdad, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li> - -<li>Caravan routes of Oman, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.</li> - -<li>Carmathian princes, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</li> - -<li>Castles in Hadramaut, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> - -<li>Cave-dwellers, Gharah, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</li> - -<li>Certificate, The Mecca, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</li> - -<li>Charms used by women of Mecca, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</li> - -<li>Child life among Arabs, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li> - -<li>Christian Church in Aden, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Arabia, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.</li> - -<li>Christian coins used as amulets, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li> - -<li>Christian and Missionary Alliance, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>.</li> - -<li>Christianity in Arabia, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, 300.</li> - -<li>Christians, Hatred of, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, 267.</li> -<li class="isub1">St. John, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</li> - -<li>Christ’s Sonship, The Rock of, <a href="#Page_397">397</a>.</li> - -<li>Church Missionary Society, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>.</li> - -<li>Circumcision, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>.</li> - -<li>Climate of Arabia, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, 378.</li> -<li class="isub1">Bahrein, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Nejd, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Oman, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.</li> - -<li>Cobb, H. N. (quoted), <a href="#Page_369">369</a>.</li> - -<li>Coffee trade in Yemen, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>.</li> - -<li>Coins (Carmathian), <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, 225.</li> - -<li>Colportage work (see Bible distribution), <a href="#Page_384">384</a>.</li> - -<li>Commerce, English, in Arabia, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">in the Nejd, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">of Busrah, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.</li> - -<li>Consulates, British, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</li> - -<li>Controversy, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>.</li> - -<li>Converts from Islam, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>.</li> - -<li>Cosmogony, Sabean, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>.</li> - -<li>Covenants, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.</li> - -<li>Cradle of the Human Race, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</li> - -<li>Ctesiphon, Arch of, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.</li> - -<li>Cufic characters, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.</li> - -<li>Customhouse, Turkish, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li> - - -<li><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_431"></a>431</span></li> - -<li>Customs, Arab, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Da Costa, Isaac, <a href="#Page_405">405</a>.</li> - -<li>Damar, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li> - -<li>Date culture, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">palm, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</li> - -<li>Dauasir, Wady, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, 145.</li> - -<li>Dedan, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.</li> - -<li>Desert dwellers and the camel, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.</li> - -<li>Deserts of Arabia, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, 144.</li> - -<li>Difficulties of Arabian missions, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>.</li> - -<li>Diseases in Arabia, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, 378.</li> - -<li>Diwaniyeh, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.</li> - -<li>Doughty (quoted), <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, 268.</li> - -<li>Dress of the Arabs, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.</li> - -<li>Dromedary, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li> - -<li>Dutch Missionary Society, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Reformed Church, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>.</li> - -<li>Dwellings of Arabs, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">East India Company, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>.</li> - -<li>Education in Mecca, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">of Arab Children, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, 379.</li> - -<li>Educational missions, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>.</li> - -<li>Elephants in warfare, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>.</li> - -<li>English possessions (see British), <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</li> - -<li>English supremacy in the Gulf, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</li> - -<li>Euphrates, Journey down the, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li> - -<li>Europeans who visited Mecca, <a href="#Page_31">31</a><i>n.</i></li> - -<li>Eustace, M., <a href="#Page_361">361</a>.</li> - -<li>Evangelistic work in Arabia, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>.</li> - -<li>Eve, Tomb of, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li> - -<li>Ezekiel, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, 405.</li> - -<li>Ezra, Tomb of, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Family life in Arabia, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li> - -<li>Fanaticism, Moslem, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>.</li> - -<li>Fao, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>.</li> - -<li>Fatima, Shrine of, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.</li> - -<li>Fauna of Arabia, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</li> - -<li>Feasts, Sabean, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> - -<li>Fetishism, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</li> - -<li>Feysul, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</li> - -<li>Fish on the Oman Coast, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</li> - -<li>Flora of Arabia, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, 124.</li> - -<li>Foods of Arabia, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.</li> - -<li>Forder, Mr., <a href="#Page_329">329</a>.</li> - -<li>Frankincense, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</li> - -<li>Free Church of Scotland, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, 334.</li> - -<li>French, Bishop Thomas Valpy, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>.</li> - -<li>French coaling station, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Games, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</li> - -<li>Geology of Arabia, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li> - -<li>Geographers, Arab, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</li> - -<li>Gharah tribe, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</li> - -<li>Glenny, Edward (quoted), <a href="#Page_397">397</a>.</li> - -<li>God, The Moslem’s idea of, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li> - -<li>God’s promises for Arabia, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>.</li> - -<li>Government of Bahrein, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Hassa, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Nejd, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li> - -<li>Governments in Arabia, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</li> - -<li>Graves, Anthony N., <a href="#Page_320">320</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Hadramaut, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, 72.</li> - -<li>Hagar, <a href="#Page_397">397</a>, 405.</li> - -<li>Haig, F. T., <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, 378.</li> - -<li>Hail, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.</li> - -<li>Haj Nasir, Khan of, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</li> - -<li>Hajarein, Hadramaut, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</li> - -<li>Halévy, Joseph, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</li> - -<li>Hanifs, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</li> - -<li>Harem system, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.</li> - -<li>Harpur, Dr. and Mrs., <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, 325.</li> - -<li>Harrat (volcanic tracts), <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.</li> - -<li>Hassa, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, 117. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_432"></a>432</span></li> - -<li>Hassa, The Turks in, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.</li> - -<li>Haswa, Khan El, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.</li> - -<li>Haura, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> - -<li>Hegira, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li> - -<li>Hejaz, Turkish rule in, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>.</li> - -<li>Hillah, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.</li> - -<li>Himyarite dynasty, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, 307.</li> - -<li>Himyarites, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li> - -<li>Himyaritic inscriptions, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, 244.</li> - -<li>History of Arabia, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, 409.</li> - -<li>Hodeidah, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Bishop French at, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>.</li> - -<li>Hodgson, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>.</li> - -<li>Hofhoof, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.</li> - -<li>Honey, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>.</li> - -<li>Horses, Arabian, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, 149.</li> - -<li>Hospital at Hofhoof, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.</li> - -<li>Hospitality of Rashid, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">the Amir of Nejd, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li> - -<li>Hostility to Christianity, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>.</li> - -<li>Hurgronje Snouck (quoted), <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Ibb, Experience at, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</li> - -<li>Ichthiophagoi, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</li> - -<li>Idolatry in Arabia, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</li> - -<li>Idols of Arabia, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.</li> - -<li>Ignorance of Arabia, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Meccans, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</li> - -<li>Ignorance, Time of, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.</li> - -<li>Illiteracy, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, 379.</li> - -<li>Immorality in Arabia, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, 41.</li> -<li class="isub1">of the Koran, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.</li> - -<li>India’s influence on Arabia, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</li> - -<li>Infanticide, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.</li> - -<li>“Infidels”, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, 31.</li> - -<li>Inscriptions in Yemen, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Himyaritic, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</li> - -<li>Interior of Arabia, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, 377.</li> - -<li>Irak-Arabi, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li> - -<li>Irrigation in Oman, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.</li> - -<li>Ishmael, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, 401.</li> -<li class="isub1">Promises to, <a href="#Page_398">398</a>.</li> - -<li>Ishmaelite Arabs, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li> - -<li>Islam, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Analysis of, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Borrowed elements of, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">God of, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">sects, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Jauf, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.</li> - -<li>Jiddah, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li> - -<li>Jebel Shammar, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</li> - -<li>Jesus Christ, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, 297.</li> - -<li>Jews in Arabia, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, 308.</li> - -<li>“John the Baptist Christians,”<a href="#Page_297">297</a>.</li> - -<li>Joktan, <a href="#Page_404">404</a>.</li> - -<li>Journey in Oman, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">to Hofhoof, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Sana, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">up the Tigris, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Kaaba, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Tradition of the, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li> - -<li>Kaat-Culture, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, 414.</li> - -<li>Kamaran Island, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>. 22O.</li> - -<li>Kamil, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>.</li> - -<li>Katar Peninsula, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</li> - -<li>Katif, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</li> - -<li>Kedar, Promises concerning, <a href="#Page_398">398</a>.</li> - -<li>Keith Falconer, Ion, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, 331.</li> -<li class="isub1">Mission, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, 381.</li> - -<li>Kenaneh, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>.</li> - -<li>Kerak, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>.</li> - -<li>Kerbela, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, 195.</li> - -<li>Khadijah, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</li> - -<li>Khans, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.</li> - -<li>Koran, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>.</li> - -<li>Koreish, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, 312.</li> - -<li>Kuria-Muria Islands, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, 219.</li> - -<li>Kurna, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</li> - -<li>Kuweit, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, 222. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_433"></a>433</span></li> - - -<li>Lahaj, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>.</li> - -<li>Lane-Poole, Stanley (quoted), <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li> - -<li>Language of the Arabs, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, 249.</li> -<li class="isub1">Sabean, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>.</li> - -<li>Lansing, Dr., <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">J. G., <a href="#Page_354">354</a>.</li> - -<li>Law among Arabs (see Government), <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li> - -<li>Legend as to creation of camel, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">of Nebi Salih, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">St. Bartholomew, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</li> - -<li>Legends, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</li> - -<li>Lethaby, William, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>.</li> - -<li>Literature of the Arabs, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, 251.</li> - -<li>Locust, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, 273.</li> - -<li>Love among Arabs, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li> - -<li>Lull, Raymond, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, 314.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Mahmal, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li> - -<li>Māadites, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li> - -<li>Mackay’s, Alexander, Appeal, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>.</li> - -<li>Makalla, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, 376.</li> - -<li>Mandæans, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</li> - -<li>Manufactures of Hassa, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</li> - -<li>Marriages in Arabia, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">of Mohammed, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, 182.</li> -<li class="isub1">Temporary, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</li> - -<li>Martyn, Henry, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, 316.</li> - -<li>Martyn’s, Henry, Journal, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>.</li> - -<li>Mattra, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</li> - -<li>Mecca, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Capture of, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Certificate, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Turkish Government of, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</li> - -<li>Meccan songs, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>.</li> - -<li>Medical knowledge of Arabs, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">mission in Aden, Need of a, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</li> - -<li>Medical mission in Yemen, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">missions, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, 377.</li> - -<li>Medicine, Arab, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>.</li> - -<li>Medina, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, 45.</li> - -<li>Menakha, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.</li> - -<li>Menamah, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</li> - -<li>Mesopotamia, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, 216.</li> -<li class="isub1">Star-worshippers of, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</li> - -<li>Methods of mission work for Arabia, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>.</li> - -<li>Mildmay Mission to the Jews, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>.</li> - -<li>Mina, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</li> - -<li>Miracles, Moslem, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>.</li> - -<li>Mishkash, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</li> - -<li>Mission at Aden, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Muscat, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, 349.</li> - -<li>Missionaries needed, The kind of, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>.</li> - -<li>Missionary force in Arabia, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">problems of Arabia, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>.</li> - -<li>Missions in Arabia, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>.</li> - -<li>Mahrah tribe, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</li> - -<li>Makāmat, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li> - -<li>Mohammed, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, 298.</li> -<li class="isub1">Ali, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Arabia, before, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.</li> - -<li>Mohammed’s burial place, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</li> - -<li>Mohammedan intolerance, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">problem, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>.</li> - -<li>Moharram, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</li> - -<li>Moses, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>.</li> - -<li>Moslem attitude toward Christianity, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>.</li> - -<li>Moslem world, Condition of the, <a href="#Page_397">397</a>.</li> - -<li>Moule, A. E. (quoted), <a href="#Page_351">351</a>.</li> - -<li>Mounds at Ali, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">in the River Country, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>.</li> - -<li>Mountains and table-lands, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li> - -<li>Mufallis, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.</li> - -<li>Muscat, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, 363.</li> -<li class="isub1">Attack on, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>.</li> - - -<li><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_434"></a>434</span></li> - -<li> -Muscat, Bishop French at, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Capture of, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Henry Martyn at, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Importance of, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>.</li> - -<li>Music, Arab, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Nasariya, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.</li> - -<li>Nebaioth, Promises regarding, <a href="#Page_398">398</a>.</li> - -<li>Needs of Arabia, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>.</li> - -<li>Nefud (Sandy Desert), <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li> - -<li>Neibuhr, M., <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li> - -<li>Nejd, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.</li> - -<li>Nejf, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</li> - -<li>Nejran, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.</li> - -<li>New Brunswick Seminary Band, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>.</li> - -<li>Newspapers, Arabic, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</li> - -<li>Nomad population, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>.</li> - -<li>Nomads, Arab, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, 264.</li> - -<li>North Africa Mission, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Oaths, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li> - -<li>Ojeir, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li> - -<li>Oman, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Interior of, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Rulers of, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.</li> - -<li>Open doors in Arabia, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, 375.</li> - -<li>Opposition to missions, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>.</li> - -<li>Ottoman (see Turkish), <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.</li> - -<li>Outlook for missions, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Palgrave (quoted), <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>.</li> - -<li>Palmyrene Kingdom, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>.</li> - -<li>Paradise, Rivers of, <a href="#Page_22">22</a><i>n</i>.</li> - -<li>Paul in Arabia, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>.</li> - -<li>Pearl fishing, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li> - -<li>Pearl Islands of the Gulf, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.</li> - -<li>Pearl oyster, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li> - -<li>Penmanship, Arabic, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</li> - -<li>Pentecost, Arabs at, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>.</li> - -<li>Perim, Island of, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>.</li> - -<li>Persecution of Christians, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, 379.</li> - -<li>Persia, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>.</li> - -<li>Persian converts, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">persecution of Christian Arabs, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>.</li> - -<li>Physicians, Arab, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, 280.</li> - -<li>Pilgrimages, Early, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">to Mecca, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, 184.</li> - -<li>Pilgrims, Duties of, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Nationality of, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li> - -<li>Pillars, The three, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</li> - -<li>Pirate coast of Oman, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</li> - -<li>Poem, “Hagar,”<a href="#Page_405">405</a>.</li> - -<li>Poems on women, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.</li> - -<li>Poetry, Arab, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, 274.</li> - -<li>Poets, Arabian, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.</li> - -<li>Political divisions of Arabia, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">history of Bahrein, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</li> - -<li>Politics in Arabia, Present, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li> - -<li>Polyandry, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</li> - -<li>Polygamy, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> - -<li>Population of Arabia, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Bagdad, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Irak-Arabi, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.</li> - -<li>Portuguese at Muscat, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, 202.</li> -<li class="isub1">castle, Katif, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</li> - -<li>Postal systems of Arabia, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.</li> - -<li>Post, Geo. E. (quoted), <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.</li> - -<li>Poverty of the Arabs, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li> - -<li>Prayer, Call to, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">for Moslems, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>.</li> - -<li>Prayer-meeting of Star-worshippers, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>.</li> - -<li>Prayers of pilgrims, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">offered at Medina, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.</li> - -<li>Preaching in Yerim, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, 324.</li> -<li class="isub1">to Moslems, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>.</li> - -<li>Priesthood, Mandæan, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> - -<li>Problems of the Arabian field, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>.</li> - -<li>Prophet’s tomb at Medina, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_435"></a>435</span></li> - -<li>Provinces of Arabia, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</li> - -<li>Ptolemy’s map of Arabia, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Railway, Anglo-Egyptian, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>.</li> - -<li>Rashid, Mohammed bin, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</li> - -<li>Rastak, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li> - -<li>Red Sea coast, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> - -<li>Reformation, Wahabi, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.</li> - -<li>Reformed Church in America, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>.</li> - -<li>Religion of heathen Arabs, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">the Mahrah tribe, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Sabeans, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>.</li> - -<li>Renan, Ernest (quoted), <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</li> - -<li>Report of Keith Falconer, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>.</li> - -<li>Results of missions to Moslems, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>.</li> - -<li>Rhenish missionary society, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>.</li> - -<li>Riad, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, 201.</li> - -<li>Riggs, C. E., <a href="#Page_361">361</a>.</li> - -<li>River country, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, 382.</li> - -<li>Rivers of Arabia, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li> - -<li>Roba’-el-Khali, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</li> - -<li>Robbers, Bedouin, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</li> - -<li>Robbery among Arabs, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li> - -<li>Robbery, Turkish, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.</li> - -<li>Roda, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</li> - -<li>Roman empire and the Arabs, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>.</li> - -<li>Ruins at Ali, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">in Hadramaut, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</li> - -<li>Ruma, Wady, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li> - -<li>Russian influence, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">interests in Arabia, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Sabeans, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</li> - -<li>Sabat, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>.</li> - -<li>Sacred mosque of Mecca, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li> - -<li>Sacrifice, Sabean, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>.</li> - -<li>Sacrifices in Arabia, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, 166.</li> - -<li>Said, Seyid, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.</li> - -<li>Sana, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Early Christianity in, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Importance of, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, 360.</li> - -<li>Sana inscription, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>.</li> - -<li>Saud, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li> - -<li>School for African slave-boys, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>.</li> - -<li>Schools at Medina, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">in Hassa, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">of Mecca, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li> - -<li>Sciences, Arabian, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>.</li> - -<li>Seba, <a href="#Page_404">404</a>.</li> - -<li>Semitic languages, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, 241.</li> - -<li>Semites, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li> - -<li>Shatt-el-Arab, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li> - -<li>Sheba, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>, 404.</li> - -<li>Shehr and its ruler, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li> - -<li>Sheikh Othman, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">mission, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>.</li> - -<li>Shibam, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> - -<li>Shiran, Wady, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li> - -<li>Shrines of Arabia, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</li> - -<li>Sib, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li> - -<li>Sidra Rabba, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>.</li> - -<li>Sin, Koran doctrine of, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</li> - -<li>Sinaitic Peninsula, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, 375.</li> - -<li>Slave School at Muscat, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">trade, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, 224.</li> - -<li>Smith, Eli, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, 316.</li> - -<li>Social character of Arabs, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> - -<li>Socotra, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, 219.</li> - -<li>Sohar, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li> - -<li>Soldiers, Turkish, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</li> - -<li>Songs, Arabian, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.</li> - -<li>Springs of fresh water in the Gulf, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</li> - -<li>Star-worshippers of Mesopotamia, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</li> - -<li>Steamship service to Bagdad, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</li> - -<li>Stern, Rev. A., <a href="#Page_327">327</a>.</li> - -<li>Stone, Geo. E., <a href="#Page_351">351</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>, 388.</li> - -<li>Suk-el-Shiukh, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.</li> - -<li>Sultan of Turkey, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.</li> - -<li>Sultans of Muscat, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li> - -<li>Sumatra missions, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>. -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_436"></a>436</span></li> - -<li>Superstitions, Arab, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>.</li> - -<li>Sur, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li> - -<li>Sutton, Henry M., <a href="#Page_327">327</a>.</li> - -<li>Sword conquest of Islam, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Taif, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>.</li> - -<li>Taiz, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, 62.</li> - -<li>Taxation, Turkish, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.</li> - -<li>Tenoof, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.</li> - -<li>Tents, Bedouin, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, 271.</li> - -<li>Telegraph system, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, 223.</li> - -<li>Thoms, S. J., <a href="#Page_366">366</a>.</li> - -<li>Theophilus, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</li> - -<li>Tigris-Euphrates basin, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li> - -<li>Torbat manufacture, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</li> - -<li>Totemism in Arabia, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.</li> - -<li>Toweelah coin, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.</li> - -<li>Trade (see Commerce), of Bagdad, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</li> - -<li>Trade of Bahrein, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Muscat, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>.</li> - -<li>Tradition of fall of Adam and Eve, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li> - -<li>Traditions, Henry Martyn’s, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>.</li> - -<li>Treaties, British, with Arabs, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.</li> - -<li>Tribal marks, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>.</li> - -<li>Travellers in Yemen, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</li> - -<li>Turkish Arabia, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">rule, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, 216.</li> - -<li>Turkish taxation, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, 142.</li> - -<li>Turks in Arabia, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Unexplored Arabia, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> - -<li>Unoccupied territory, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Van Dyck, C. V. A., <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, 316.</li> - -<li>Van Tassel, Samuel, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>.</li> - -<li>Veil, Use of the, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Wadys, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li> - -<li>Wahabis, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, 191.</li> - -<li>Wahat, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li> - -<li>Warfare, Arab, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>.</li> - -<li>Wasms, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>.</li> - -<li>Water courses of Oman, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.</li> - -<li>Weapons, Arab, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</li> - -<li>Wellhausen (quoted), <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li> - -<li>Wellsted’s travels in Arabia, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, 93.</li> - -<li>Wilson, John, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>.</li> - -<li>Woman’s dress in Arabia, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">work for <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, 383.</li> - -<li>Women, Arab, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Bedouin, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.</li> - -<li>Women in the “Time of Ignorance”, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</li> - -<li>Women, Mohammed and, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">of Mecca, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Yemen, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, 70.</li> -<li class="isub1">Sabean, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>.</li> - -<li>Wood carving in Hadramaut, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> - -<li>Worrall, H. R. L., <a href="#Page_364">364</a>.</li> - -<li>Wrede, Adolph von, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</li> - -<li>Writing as a fine art, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Early Semitic, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">use of, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Mandâitic, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>.</li> - -<li>Wyckoff, James T., <a href="#Page_363">363</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Yakoob, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>.</li> - -<li>Yambo, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, 196.</li> - -<li>Yemen, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, 234.</li> -<li class="isub1">as a mission field, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1">Turks in, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</li> - -<li>Yemenites, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li> - -<li>Yerim, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</li> - -<li>Young, J. C., <a href="#Page_343">343</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Zemzem, Well of, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, 36.</li> - -<li>Zenobia, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>.</li> - -<li>Zobeir, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</li> - - -<li><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_437"></a>437</span></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Zwemer, Peter J., <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>.</li> - -<li>Zwemer’s, P. J., journey in Oman, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.</li> - -<li>Zwemer, S. M., <a href="#Page_354">354</a>, 359.</li> - -<li>Zwemer’s, S. M., journey down the Euphrates, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li> - -<li>Zwemer’s, S. M., journey to Hofhoof, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li> - -<li>Zwemer’s, S. M., journey to Sana, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li> - -<li>Zwemer’s, S. M., journey up the Tigris, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</li> - -</ul> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_438"></a>438</span></p> - -<p><a id="Arabia"></a></p> -<div class="figcenter illowe62_5" id="illus-484-thumb"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus-484-thumb.jpg" alt="" /> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="FOOTNOTES">FOOTNOTES:</h2> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> May not this wady have been once a noble stream perhaps, as Glaser -conjectures, the fourth of the Paradise rivers? (Gen ii. 10-14) Upon the -question as to where the ancient Semites located Paradise Glaser says that -it was in the neighborhood of the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris, -on the Arabian side. There the sacred palm of the city of Eridu grew; there -according to the view of the ancient Arabs the two larger wadys of Central -Arabia opened. The one is the Wady er-Ruma or the Gaihan; and -the other is the Wady ed-Dauasir, <i>a side wady</i> of which in the neighborhood -of Hamdani still bears the name of Faishan (Pishon).—See “Recent -Research in Bible Lands,” by H.V. Hilprecht, (Philadelphia, 1897). -See also <i>The Sunday-School Times</i>, Vol. XXXIII, No 49.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Samhudi’s History of Medina. (Arabic text p. 40, sqq.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> These wastes are also termed <i>Dakhna</i>, <i>Ahkaf</i>, and <i>Hamad</i> according -to the greater or less depth or shifting nature of the sands or the more -or less compact character of the soil.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> “Kitab Sinajet-el-Tarb” by Nofel Effendi (Beirut 1890). The author -follows the older Arabic authorities.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> Geography of Asia (Vol II., p. 460), 1896.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> The first account of a European visiting Mecca is that of Ludovico -Bartema, a gentleman of Rome, who visited the city in 1503; his narrative -was published in 1555. The first Englishman was Joseph Pitts, the -sailor from Exeter, in 1678; then followed the great Arabian traveller, -John Lewis Burckhardt, 1814; Burton in 1853 visited both Mecca and -Medina; H. Bicknell made the pilgrimage in 1862 and T.F. Keane in -1880. The narratives of each of these pilgrims have been published, and -from them, and the travels of Ali Bey, and others, we know something of -the Holy Land of Arabia. Ali Bey was in reality a Spaniard, called -Juan Badia y Seblich, who visited Mecca and Medina in 1807 and left -a long account of his travels in two volumes illustrated by many beautiful -engravings. Burton’s account of his pilgrimage is best known, but Burckhardt’s -is more accurate and scholarly. Of modern books, that of the -Dutch scholar, Snouck Hurgronje, who resided in Mecca for a long time, -is by far the best. His <i>Mekka</i>, in two volumes, is accompanied by an -atlas of photographs and gives a complete history of the city as well as a -full account of its inhabitants and of the Java pilgrimage.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a> Vol. II., p. 157.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> <i>TABLE OF MECCA PILGRIMAGE, 1880.</i></p> - -<p>(From Blunt’s “Future of Islam.”)</p> - -<table class="brdr" summary=""> -<tr> -<th class="tdc" colspan="2">NATIONALITY OF PILGRIMS.</th> -<th class="tdc">Arriving<br />by Sea.</th> -<th class="tdc">Arriving<br />by Land.</th> -<th class="tdc">Total Moslem<br />Pop. represented.</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">Ottoman Subjects<br />(excluding Arabia)</td> -<td class="tdr">8,500</td> -<td class="tdr">1,000</td> -<td class="tdr">22,000,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">Egyptians</td> -<td class="tdr">5,000</td> -<td class="tdr">1,000</td> -<td class="tdr">5,000,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">From “Barbary States”</td> -<td class="tdr">6,000</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdr">18,000,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">Yemen Arabs</td> -<td class="tdr">3,000</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdr">2,500,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">Oman and Hadramaut</td> -<td class="tdr">3,000</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdr">3,000,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">Nejd, etc., Arabs</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdr">5,000</td> -<td class="tdr">4,000,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">Hejaz (including Mecca)</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdr">22,000</td> -<td class="tdr">2,000,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">Negroes from Sudan</td> -<td class="tdr">2,000</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdr">10,000,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">Negroes from Zanzibar</td> -<td class="tdr">1,000</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdr">1,500,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">Malabari from Cape of G. Hope</td> -<td class="tdr">150</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdr">————</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">Persians</td> -<td class="tdr">6,000</td> -<td class="tdr">2,500</td> -<td class="tdr">8,000,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">Indians (British Subjects)</td> -<td class="tdr">15,000</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdr">40,000,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">Malays and Javanese</td> -<td class="tdr">12,000</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdr">30,000,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2">Chinese</td> -<td class="tdr">100</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdr">15,000,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Mongols</td> -<td class="tdr" rowspan="3"><div class="figcenter" id="brace6r" style="max-width: .5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/brace3r.jpg" alt="brace" /> -</div> -</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdr">6,000,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Russians, Tartars, etc.</td> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdr">5,000,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Afghans and Baluchis</td> - -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdc">——</td> -<td class="tdr">3,000,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2"> (included in Ottoman Haj)</td> -<td class="tdl"></td> -<td class="tdl"></td> -<td class="tdl"></td> -<td class="tdl"></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"></td> -<td class="tdl"></td> -<td class="tdr_bt">61,750</td> -<td class="tdr_bt">31,500</td> -<td></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl_bt" colspan="2">Total pilgrims present at Arafat</td> -<td class="tdc_bt" colspan="2">93,250</td> -<td class="tdr_bt">175,000,000</td> -</tr> -</table> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="label">[9]</a> Professor Hankin in the <i>British Medical Journal</i> for June, 1894, -published the result of his analysis of Zemzem water as follows: “Total -solid in a gallon, 259; Chlorine, 51.24; Free ammonia, parts per million, -0.93; Albuminoid ammonia, .45. It contains an amount of solids -greater than that in any well water used for potable purposes.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="label">[10]</a> Its measurements, according to Ali Bey, are 37 ft. 2 in., 31 ft. 7 in., -38 ft 4 in., 29 ft. and its height is 34 ft. 4 in.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="label">[11]</a> This religion which denies an atonement and teaches that Christ was -not crucified yet has for its great festival a feast of sacrifice to commemorate -the obedience of Abraham and the substitute provided by God!</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="label">[12]</a> This is the testimony of Captain Burton, the man who translated an -unexpurgated text of the Arabian nights and left behind a book in manuscript -which his wife had the good sense to destroy and so prevent its -publication.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="label">[13]</a> Hurgronje, p. 5, Vol. II.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="label">[14]</a> Ibid., p. 102.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15" class="label">[15]</a> Ibid, p 11.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16" class="label">[16]</a> Ibid., pp. 61-64.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17" class="label">[17]</a> This coin is called <i>Mishkash</i> and is a Venetian coin of Duke Aloys -Mocenigo I. (1570-77 <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span>). On one side the Duke is kneeling before -St. Mark the patron saint of Venice and on the other is the image of -Christ surrounded by stars.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18" class="label">[18]</a> The western or coast route goes by Koleis, Rabek, Mastura, and near -Jebel Eyub (Job’s Mountain) over Jebel Subh, then to Suk-es-Safra and -Suk el Jedid to Medina. The eastern road was the one taken by Burton, -and goes by way of El Zaribah, El Sufena, El Suerkish, etc., a distance -248 miles.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19" class="label">[19]</a> These arguments may be stated briefly as follows:</p> - -<p>1. A tumult followed the announcement of the prophet’s death, and -Omar threatened destruction to any one who asserted it. Is it probable -that a quiet interment took place?</p> - -<p>2. Immediately after Mohammed’s death a dispute about the succession -arose, in the ardor of which, according to the Shiahs, the house -of Ali and Fatima, near the present tomb, were threatened by fire.</p> - -<p>3. The early Moslems would not be apt to <i>reverence</i> the grave of the -prophet, as do those of later date, when tradition has exalted him above -the common humanity. The early Moslems were indifferent as to the -exact spot.</p> - -<p>4. The shape of the prophet’s tomb was not known in early times, nor -is it given in the traditions, so that we find convex graves in some lands -and flat in others.</p> - -<p>5. The accounts of the learned among the Moslems are discrepant as -to the burial of Mohammed.</p> - -<p>6. Shiah schismatics had charge of the sepulchre for centuries, and -because of its proximity to the graves of Abubekr and Omar, it was in -their interest to remove the body.</p> - -<p>7. Even the present position of the grave, with relation to other graves, -is in dispute, because the tomb-chamber (<i>Hujrah</i>) is closely guarded by -eunuchs, who do not allow any one to enter.</p> - -<p>8. The tale of the blinding light which surrounds the prophet’s tomb -seems a plausible story to conceal a defect.</p> - -<p>9. Mohammed el Halebi, the Sheikh-el Ulema of Damascus, assured -Burton that he was permitted to pass the door leading into the tomb-chamber, -and that he saw no trace of a sepulchre.</p> - -<p>10. Moslem historians admit that an attempt was made in A.H. 412 -to steal the bodies of Mohammed and the two companions by the third -Fatimite Caliph of Egypt; they relate marvels connected with the failure -of the attempt, and assert that a trench was dug deep all around the -graves and filled with molten lead to prevent the theft of the body.</p> - -<p>11. In <span class="allsmcap">A. H.</span> 654 the mosque was destroyed by a volcanic eruption, -according to the Moslem historians, but the tomb-chamber escaped all -damage! Again in <span class="allsmcap">A. H.</span> 887 it was struck by lightning. “On this -occasion,” says El Samanhudi (quoted by Burckhardt) “the interior of the -Hujrah (tomb-chamber) was cleared and three deep graves were found in -the inside full of rubbish, but the author of this history, who himself -entered it, saw no trace of tombs.” The same author declared that the -coffin containing the dust of Mohammed was cased with silver.</p> - -<p>12. Lastly the Shiah and Sunni accounts of the prophet’s death and -burial are contradictory as to the exact place of burial.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20" class="label">[20]</a> Niebuhr, 1763; Seetzen, 1810; Cruttenden, 1836; Dr. Wolff, 1836; -Owen, 1857; Botta, 1837; Passama, 1842; Arnaud, 1843; Van Maltzan, -1871; Halvéy, 1870; Millingen, 1874; Renzo Manzoni, 1879; Glaser, -1880; Defler, 1888; Haig, 1889; Harris, 1892; and later travellers. -Defler is the authority on the flora, Glaser on the antiquities, Manzoni on -the Turks and their government, Haig on the agricultural population, -and Harris tells of the recent rebellions. Niebuhr’s magnificent volumes -are still good authority on the geography and natural history of Yemen.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21" class="label">[21]</a> The Yemen plow is shaped like an English plow in many respects; -although it has only one handle its coulter is broad and made of iron, a -great improvement over the crooked stick of Mesopotamia.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22" class="label">[22]</a> It was not pleasant for an American to notice that nearly all the -Turkish rifles in Yemen were “Springfield 1861.” The same weapons -that were employed to break the chains of slavery in the southern states, -are now used to oppress the peaceful Yemenites.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_23" href="#FNanchor_23" class="label">[23]</a> Of the work among the latter, and my experiences in distributing the -New Testament, a report was published by the Mildmay Mission; we -therefore omit reference to it here.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_24" href="#FNanchor_24" class="label">[24]</a> Geog. Soc. Proceedings, 1887, p. 482.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_25" href="#FNanchor_25" class="label">[25]</a> Defler says in his diary that this place has “une odeur atroce et des -legions de puces et de punaises.” I also had an all-night’s battle.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_26" href="#FNanchor_26" class="label">[26]</a> Hadramaut is a very ancient name for this region. Not only does -Ptolemy place here the <i>Adramitæ</i> in his geography, but there seems little -doubt that Hadramaut is identical with Hazarmaveth, mentioned in the -tenth chapter of Genesis.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_27" href="#FNanchor_27" class="label">[27]</a> “The Hadramaut: a Journey” by Theodore Bent. <i>Nineteenth -Century</i>, September, 1894. Also Mrs. Bent’s “Yafei and Fadhli -countries.” <i>Geographical Journal</i>, July, 1898.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_28" href="#FNanchor_28" class="label">[28]</a> Le Hadramont et les Colonies Arabes dans le Archipel Indien par L.W.C. -Van den Berg. Batavia, 1886. By order of the Government.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_29" href="#FNanchor_29" class="label">[29]</a> Notes on the Mahrah Tribe with vocabulary of their language; notes -on the Gharah tribe; geography of the southeast coast of Arabia;—July, -1845, July, 1847; and January, 1851, in the journal of the Society.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_30" href="#FNanchor_30" class="label">[30]</a> The most characteristic difference between Mahri and Arabic is the -substitution of <i>Shin</i> (sh) for <i>Kaf</i> (k) in many words.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_31" href="#FNanchor_31" class="label">[31]</a> “History of Oman.“</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_32" href="#FNanchor_32" class="label">[32]</a> The remainder of the chapter is quoted from the letters of my brother, -Rev. P. J. Zwemer, and the sketch of Tenoof was drawn by him on one -of his journeys.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_33" href="#FNanchor_33" class="label">[33]</a> These islands are identified by Sprenger and others with Dedan of the -Scriptures, (<i>Ezekiel</i> xxvii. 15), and were known to the Romans by the -name of Tylos. Pliny writes of the cotton-trees, “<i>arbores vocant gossympinos -fertiliore etiam Tylo minore</i>.”—(xii. 10). Strabo describes the -Phœnician temples that existed on the islands, and Ptolemy speaks of the -pearl-fisheries which from time immemorial flourished along these coasts. -The geographer, Juba, also tells of a battle fought off the islands between -the Romans and the Arabs. Ptolemy’s ancient map shows how little was -known as to the size or location of the group. Even Niebuhr’s map, -which is wonderfully correct in the main, makes a great error in the position -of the islands; in his day the two principal islands were called Owal -and Arad, names which still linger.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_34" href="#FNanchor_34" class="label">[34]</a> This cost is divided as follows: Fishing smack <i>r.</i> 400, wages of 10 -divers <i>r.</i> 2,000; wages of 12 rope-holders <i>r.</i> 2,400; apparatus <i>r.</i> 40. -Total <i>rupees</i> 4,810.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_35" href="#FNanchor_35" class="label">[35]</a> The <i>Mashooah</i> is a much smaller boat, like the English jolly-boat, and -is used in the harbor and for short journeys around the islands.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_36" href="#FNanchor_36" class="label">[36]</a> The only remarkable exception is the Jebel Sinam—a rough hill of -basaltic rock that crops out in the midst of the alluvial delta near Zobeir; -a peculiar phenomenon, but proving Doughty’s general scheme for the -Arabian geology correct even here.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_37" href="#FNanchor_37" class="label">[37]</a> The dates of Hassa and Oman may equal those of Busrah but the gardens -are inferior and the quantity produced is not so large.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_38" href="#FNanchor_38" class="label">[38]</a> The last named is outside of our present subject and is a misnomer -given by Turkish audacity to the region of Hassa.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_39" href="#FNanchor_39" class="label">[39]</a> Kuweit is the Arabic diminutive of <i>Kut</i> a walled-village; the place is -called Grane on some maps—evidently a corruption of <i>Kurein</i> or “little -horn,” a name given to an island in the harbor.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_40" href="#FNanchor_40" class="label">[40]</a> For the interesting history of the cities that occupied the site of Busrah -before the days of Islam, and as far back as Nebuchadnezzar, see -Ainsworth’s “Personal narrative of the Euphrates expedition.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_41" href="#FNanchor_41" class="label">[41]</a> The following are the villages and encampments between <i>Hillah</i> and -<i>Diwaniyeh</i>: El Ataj, Doulab, Dobleh, Kwaha, Saadeh, Tenhara, Bir -Amaneh, Allaj, Anameh, Hosein, Khegaan Sageer and Khegaan Kebir.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_42" href="#FNanchor_42" class="label">[42]</a> The distinction between true Arabs of the nomad tribes and the -<i>Me’dan</i> was made as early as 1792 by Niebuhr in his travels, and the -river boatmen still answer your question with contemptuous accent: -“Those are not Arabs, they are Me’dan.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_43" href="#FNanchor_43" class="label">[43]</a> It contains the following Wadys: Nejran, Habuna, Wanan, Moyazet, -Bedr and the extensive Wady Dauasir.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_44" href="#FNanchor_44" class="label">[44]</a> Aflaj has six villages: Siah, Leyta, Khurfa, Ei-Rautha, El-Bedia. Wady -Dauasir has these towns: El-Hammam, Es-Shotibba, Es-Soleil, Tamera, -Ed-Dam, El-Loghf, El-Ferrà, Es Showeik, and El-Ayathat. (Doughty.) -Most of these towns are not given on the maps, but as some of them are, -it is interesting to mention the route from Hassa to this Wady, given by -Capt. Miles in a letter to Sprenger (dated Muscat, March, 1873) and -quoted in his “Alte Geog. Arabiens,” page 240. “Route from El Hasa -to Solail: Hassa, Khaiaj, Howta, Hilwa, Leilah, Kharfa, Rondha, El -Sih, Bidia, Shitba, Solail. From Solail to Runniya it is three days’ -journey. It is a town larger than Solail. The Dosiri tribes are as -follows El-Woodaieen at Solail; El Misahireh possess most camels, etc.; -Al Hassan at Wasit; Beni Goweit; El-Khutran in Shitba; El Sherafa; -El-’Umoor, east end of Wady; Al Saad, west of Wady; El-Showaiej; -El-Khamaseen; El Kahtan; Hamid; Al Amar; El Farjan in Kharfa.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_45" href="#FNanchor_45" class="label">[45]</a> A full account of their peculiar beliefs and their disputed origin is -given in the Appendix to Badger’s “History of Oman.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_46" href="#FNanchor_46" class="label">[46]</a> The Talh is a large tree of roundish, scanty, leafage, with a little dry -berry for fruit, its branches are wide-spreading and thorny. The Nebaa’ -is much smaller though of considerable height; it has very small ovate -bright green leaves. The Sidi is a little acacia tree.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_47" href="#FNanchor_47" class="label">[47]</a> For our present knowledge of the government, population, cities and -villages of Nejd we are chiefly indebted to the following travellers: Captain -G. F. Sadlier, of the English army, who was the first European to -cross the Arabian Peninsula. (1819) George Wallin, a learned young -Swedish Arabist, travelling in 1845 and 1848 as a Mohammedan doctor of -law, passed through the northern desert from Jauf to Hail and visited -Medina. William Gifford Palgrave, a Jesuit Roman Catholic, of English -birth and scholarly tastes made his celebrated journey across Arabia from -west to east in 1862-63. In 1864 the bold Italian traveller Guarmani -went from Jerusalem straight to Jebel Shammar and Aneyza. In 1865 -Colonel Pelly, the British Resident at Bushire made an important journey, -in company with Dr. Colville and Lieutenant Dawes, from Kuweit through -southeastern Nejd to Riadh, returning by Hassa to Ojeir and Bahrein. Then -Charles M. Doughty (<i>facile princeps</i> among all authorities and travellers -Arabian) made his long, arduous, zigzag journeys through northwestern -and northern Arabia from November, 1876, to August, 1878. Our other -authority for Nejd is Lady Ann Blunt who with her husband visited the -capital of Ibn Rashid’s country from Bagdad in 1883.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_48" href="#FNanchor_48" class="label">[48]</a> If we remember that Palgrave compares Feysul’s mud brick palace to -the Tuileries of Paris, states that the great mosque of Riad can accommodate -2,000 worshippers, and gives the Wahabi ruler a standing army of 50,000, -we deduct a little from the poetical description to have a balance of net facts.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_49" href="#FNanchor_49" class="label">[49]</a> In our chapter on the Arabic language we shall see that the golden -age of Arabic literature was just before the birth of Mohammed.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_50" href="#FNanchor_50" class="label">[50]</a> “Mohammedanism had owed much to the Jewish kingdom of Sâba. -The rule of the Sabean kings had extended over Mecca, and Jewish ideas -and beliefs had thus made their way into the future birthplace of -Mohammed. The fact is full of interest for students of the history of -Islam. The epigraphic evidence which Dr. Glaser has presented to us -shows that the rise of Mohammedanism was not the strange and unique -phenomenon it has hitherto been thought to be. It had been prepared -for centuries previously. Arabia had for ages been the home of culture -and the art of writing, and for about two hundred years before the birth -of Mohammed his countrymen had been brought into close contact with -the Jewish faith. Future research will doubtless explain fully how great -was his debt to the Jewish masters of Mecca and the Sabean kingdom of -Southern Arabia.”—Prof. A. H. Sayce in the <i>Independent</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_51" href="#FNanchor_51" class="label">[51]</a> Koelle’s Mohammed, p. 5.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_52" href="#FNanchor_52" class="label">[52]</a> Het Matriarchaat bij de onde Arabieren (1884), and <i>Supplement</i> to -the same, in answer to critics, (1885). The Hague.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_53" href="#FNanchor_53" class="label">[53]</a> Smith’s “Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia,” pp. 100, 104.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_54" href="#FNanchor_54" class="label">[54]</a> Palmer’s Introduction to the Koran, p. xv.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_55" href="#FNanchor_55" class="label">[55]</a> In the order of time, and to fully grasp the extent of Christian ideas -prevalent in Arabia the chapter on Early Christianity in Arabia should -precede this chapter on Islam; but logically that chapter belongs with the -other chapters on mission-work. The same is true, in a measure, of the -chapter on the Sabeans.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_56" href="#FNanchor_56" class="label">[56]</a> See pp. 177, 178, for tables showing the Elements in Islam and the -sources from which they were derived.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_57" href="#FNanchor_57" class="label">[57]</a> Whatever idea your mind can conceive, God is the reverse of it.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_60" href="#FNanchor_60" class="label">[60]</a> Koelle’s Mohammed, p. 27.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_61" href="#FNanchor_61" class="label">[61]</a> See an article on “Mohammedanism and Christianity.”—Dr. Robert -Bruce, <i>The Christian Intelligencer</i> (New York) April, 1894.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_62" href="#FNanchor_62" class="label">[62]</a> Even the sacred books of India and China and Ancient Egypt compare -more favorably with the Bible in this respect than does the Koran. -They teach the heinous character of sin, as sin, and do not deny the need -of a mediator or of propitiatory sacrifice but are full of both ideas.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_63" href="#FNanchor_63" class="label">[63]</a> For a Chronological table of Arabian history, from the earliest times -to the present, <i>see Appendix</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_64" href="#FNanchor_64" class="label">[64]</a> The four orthodox sects are called: Hanafis, Shafis, Malakis, and -Hambalis. The last was founded by Ibn Hambal at Bagdad, 780 <span class="allsmcap">A. D.</span> -it is the least popular sect.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_65" href="#FNanchor_65" class="label">[65]</a> The Mahmal is a covered litter, an emblem of royalty and of superstitious -honor sent from Cairo and Damascus to Mecca, to this day.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_66" href="#FNanchor_66" class="label">[66]</a> Zehm’s Arabie, p. 332.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_67" href="#FNanchor_67" class="label">[67]</a> Saud died at the age of forty-five, in April, 1814, from fever, at -Deraiyah. He was a strong-willed ruler but administered justice with -rigor; he was wise in council and skillful in settling disputes and healing -factions. Of his eight children, Abdullah, the eldest, succeeded him -as ruler.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_68" href="#FNanchor_68" class="label">[68]</a> The history of its tedious prosecution and all its cruelty on the side of -the Turks is told by Burckhardt, the traveller, who was himself living in -Mecca at this time.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_69" href="#FNanchor_69" class="label">[69]</a> Palgrave visited the Wahabi capital during the reign of Feysul and -gives his usual picturesque descriptions of the court and family life of the -genial tyrant. But it is necessary to take his accounts of Riad <i>cum -grano salis</i>; a Jesuit Roman Catholic would not describe the strict -Puritanism of the Wahabis with any degree of admiration. Palgrave’s -statistics of the strength of Feysul’s army and of the population of his -dominions are utterly unreliable and greatly exaggerated. However one -must read Palgrave to know what was the condition of the Wahabi empire -in 1860-63, for he is our only authority for that period.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_70" href="#FNanchor_70" class="label">[70]</a> The history of Mecca under these Sherifs is given by Snouck Hurgronje -at length in his “Mekka.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_71" href="#FNanchor_71" class="label">[71]</a> This is according to the testimony of Walter B. Harris who was in -Yemen shortly after the rebellion.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_72" href="#FNanchor_72" class="label">[72]</a> See Lady Ann Blunt’s “Bedouins of the Euphrates.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_73" href="#FNanchor_73" class="label">[73]</a> Statesman’s Year Book.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_74" href="#FNanchor_74" class="label">[74]</a> For a complete account of Perim, see “The Description and History -of Perim,” by J. S. King, Bombay, 1877.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_75" href="#FNanchor_75" class="label">[75]</a> Treaties were made with the Arabs of the pirate coast in 1835, 1838, -1839, 1847, 1853, and 1856; of these we shall speak later.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_76" href="#FNanchor_76" class="label">[76]</a> The British India steamer, carry the mails and leave Bombay and -Busrah once a week, touching at the intermediate ports in the Gulf, after -Kerachi, as follows: Gwadur, Muscat, Jask, Bunder Abbas, Lingah, Bahrein, -Bushire, Fao and Mohammerah; the journey lasts a fortnight and the -distance, zigzag, is about one thousand nine hundred miles.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_77" href="#FNanchor_77" class="label">[77]</a> In a recent paper read before the Society of Arts in London Mr. C. E. -D. Black of the Geographical Department of the India office urges other -reasons for the practicability of this route.—(London <i>Times</i>, May 7th, -1898.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_78" href="#FNanchor_78" class="label">[78]</a> <i>Times</i> of India, June 17, 1899.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_79" href="#FNanchor_79" class="label">[79]</a></p> - -<p> -1. Ras el Kheima—Jowasim tribe.<br /> -2. Um-el-Kawain—Al-bu-Ali tribe.<br /> -3. Ajman—Al-bu-Ali tribe.<br /> -4. Sharka—Jowasim tribe.<br /> -5. Debai—Al-bu-falasal tribe.<br /> -6. Abu Dhabi—Bni Yas tribe.<br /> -</p> - -<p>All of these tribes reside between Katar and Ras el Had on the -Arabian coast. (See Aitchison, Vol. VII., No. xxvi.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_80" href="#FNanchor_80" class="label">[80]</a> Curzon’s “Persia,” Vol. II., p. 453.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_81" href="#FNanchor_81" class="label">[81]</a> The following tribes in the vicinity of Aden receive (or received) -annual subsidies from the British Government:</p> - -<table class="small" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdc"><i>Tribe.</i></td> -<td class="tdc"><i>Estimated Population.</i></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Abdali</td> -<td class="tdr">15,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Fadhli</td> -<td class="tdr">25,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Akrabi</td> -<td class="tdr">800</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Subaihi</td> -<td class="tdr">20,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Haushabi</td> -<td class="tdr">6,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Alawi</td> -<td class="tdr">1,500</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Amir</td> -<td class="tdr">30,000</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl">Yaffai</td> -<td class="tdr">35,000</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p>Thus the total estimated population of these tribes is 133,300 and the -total amount of the annual stipend paid them in 1877, was 12,000 -German crowns. (Hunter’s “Aden,” p. 155.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_82" href="#FNanchor_82" class="label">[82]</a> In a remarkable article, the <i>Novoe Vremya</i> makes known the Russian -discovery of “a new British intrigue.” It appears that Great Britain, -not content with the virtual annexation of Egypt and the Sudan, is even, -while carrying out her plans for the absorption of the Transvaal and the -advancement of her interests in Persia, busily engaged in setting up a -Mohammedan Power which is to rival that of the Sultan, and is ultimately -to be used as a means of menacing, if not destroying, Russian authority -in Central Asia. The puppet Prince selected for this purpose is the Sherif -of Mecca. According to the <i>Novoe Vremya</i>, the Sherif has recently received -from England a letter stating that the British government, having -decided to invest a certain worthy but impecunious Mohammedan Sheikh -with the Caliphate of Zeila, on the borders of Somaliland, and recognizing -the Sherif as a descendant of the Prophet and great protector of Islam, -considers it desirable for the Sherif on the day of the appointment of the -new Caliph to issue a manifesto expressing his approval. In return for -this service, Great Britain will proclaim Mecca and Medina the private -property of the Sherif, will assure to him the greater part of the revenues -of the new Caliphate, and will defend him by diplomatic means, or even -by force of arms, against the interference of the Sultan or any other Foreign -Power. It is perhaps needless to say that the author of this intrigue -is said to be Mr. Chamberlain, who is described as a man “without faith, -without truth, capable of trampling under foot every commandment, -whether of God or man, in order to accomplish his purpose of placing -Great Britain at the head of the Powers of the world.”—<i>Times</i> of India, -1899.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_83" href="#FNanchor_83" class="label">[83]</a> He speaks of it as follows in his Histoire des Langues Semitques, p. -342 “Cette langue, auparavant inconnue, se montre à nous soudainement -dans toute sa perfection, avec sa flexibilite, sa richesse infinie, tellemen-complete, -en un mot, que depnis ce temps jusqu’a nos jours elle n’a subi -ancune modification importante. Il n’y a pour elle ni enfance, ni -vieillesse; une fois qu’on a signalé son apparition et ses prodijieuses cont -quêtes, tout est dit sur son compte. Je ne sais si l’on trouverait un autre -exemple d’un idiome entrant dans le monde comme celui-ci, sans état -archaïque, sans degrés intermediaires ni tatonnements.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_84" href="#FNanchor_84" class="label">[84]</a> Von Kremer, Guidi, Hommel.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_85" href="#FNanchor_85" class="label">[85]</a> Sayce, Sprenger, Schrader, De Goeje, Wright.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_86" href="#FNanchor_86" class="label">[86]</a> Assyrian Grammar, p. 13.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_87" href="#FNanchor_87" class="label">[87]</a> An account of this language or dialect was given by Surgeon H. J. -Carter in Journal Roy. Asiat. Soc., July, 1847.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_88" href="#FNanchor_88" class="label">[88]</a> Lansing.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_89" href="#FNanchor_89" class="label">[89]</a> Found in the <i>Edinburgh Review</i> for July, 1866, article “Mohammed.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_90" href="#FNanchor_90" class="label">[90]</a> “It would take a long list to exhaust the religious, literary and -scientific contributions to the Arabic language from the missionaries in -Syria. They include the translation of the Scriptures and the stereotyping -of the same in numerous styles; the preparation of a Scripture guide, -commentaries, a concordance, and a complete hymn and tune book; -text-books in history, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, logarithms, astronomy, -meteorology, botany, zoölogy, physics, chemistry, anatomy, -physiology, hygiene, materia medica, practice of physic, surgery, and a -periodical literature which has proved the stimulus to a very extensive -native journalism. The Protestant converts of the mission, educated by -the missionaries, have written elaborate works on history, poetry, grammar, -arithmetic, natural science, and the standard dictionary of the language, -and a cyclopædia which will make a library by itself, consisting of -about twenty volumes of from six hundred to eight hundred pages each.”—<i>Dr. -G. E. Post, in New York Evangelist</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_91" href="#FNanchor_91" class="label">[91]</a> Gen. xxv. 16.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_92" href="#FNanchor_92" class="label">[92]</a> In the <i>Edinburgh Review</i>, July, 1866.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_93" href="#FNanchor_93" class="label">[93]</a> International Routes of Asia, by Elisée Reclus, in New York <i>Independent</i>, -May 4, 1899.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_94" href="#FNanchor_94" class="label">[94]</a> Smith’s Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia, pp. 9, 17, 131.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_95" href="#FNanchor_95" class="label">[95]</a> What the boys and girls of the towns can study we have described in -our chapter on Mecca.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_96" href="#FNanchor_96" class="label">[96]</a> This is the testimony of Burckhardt and Doughty.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_97" href="#FNanchor_97" class="label">[97]</a> Arabia Deserta, Vol. I., p. 238.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_98" href="#FNanchor_98" class="label">[98]</a> Translation from Mekka, Vol. II., p. 187.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_99" href="#FNanchor_99" class="label">[99]</a> See Burckhardt’s book for further particulars.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_100" href="#FNanchor_100" class="label">[100]</a> Signifying “Allah.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_101" href="#FNanchor_101" class="label">[101]</a> Baidhawi’s Commentary <i>in loco</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_102" href="#FNanchor_102" class="label">[102]</a> For on account of these ancient superstitions and idolatries still practiced, -see W. Robertson Smith’s “Religion of the Semites” and his “Kinship -and marriage in Early Arabia.” The mass of purely Mohammedan -superstition can be studied in books like the Arabian Nights and Lane’s -“Modern Egyptians.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_103" href="#FNanchor_103" class="label">[103]</a> This chapter is an enlargement of a paper on “The Star-Worshippers -of Mesopotamia” read before the Victoria Institute, Adelphi Terrace, -London, 1897.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_104" href="#FNanchor_104" class="label">[104]</a> Kessler.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_105" href="#FNanchor_105" class="label">[105]</a> Surah ii. 59; v. 73; xxii. 17</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_106" href="#FNanchor_106" class="label">[106]</a> According to Gesenius, Sabeans should be <i>Tsabians</i> from <i>tsabaoth</i>, the -“host of heaven.” Nöldeke and others say it comes from a root <i>subba</i> to -wash, baptise, and refers to the manner of their worship. Gibbon is perhaps -correct when, on the authority of Pocock, Hettinger, and D’Herbelot, -he states the origin of their other name thus: “A slight infusion of the -gospel had transformed the last remnant of the Chaldean polytheists into -the Christians of St. John at Bussora.”</p> - -<p>In regard to their name <i>Sabeans</i>, Lane’s Arabic dictionary says that -it comes from a root meaning “one who has departed from one religion to -another religion.” The Arabs used to call the prophet <i>as-Sabi</i>, because -he departed from the religion of the Koreish to El-Islam. Nasoreans -is the name given them by some authors. According to Petermann they -themselves give this title only to those of their number who are distinguished -for character or knowledge. It doubtless comes from [Greek: Nazôrãioi], -the early half-Christian sect of Syria.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_107" href="#FNanchor_107" class="label">[107]</a> The only grammar of the language is the elaborate <i>Mandäische Grammatik</i> -of the indefatigable scholar Nöldeke. One great drawback of the -book however is that the <i>Hebrew</i> character is used throughout and not the -Mandâitic.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_108" href="#FNanchor_108" class="label">[108]</a> Leviticus xiv. 4-7, 49-53.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_109" href="#FNanchor_109" class="label">[109]</a> Cf. Job xxxi. 26-28.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_110" href="#FNanchor_110" class="label">[110]</a> The first printed and translated edition of the <i>Sidra Rabba</i> was by -Math. Norberg (Copenhagen, 1815-16), but it is said to be so defective -that it is quite useless critically; Petermann reproduced the Paris MSS. in -two volumes at Leipsic, 1867. Besides the <i>Sidra Rabba</i> there are: -<i>Sidra d’Yaheya</i> or Book of St. John, also called <i>Drasche d’Malek</i> (discourse -of the King); The <i>Diwan</i>; The <i>Sidra Neshmata</i>, or book of souls; -and last, but not least, the books of the zodiac called <i>Asfar Malwashee</i>. -Except for the <i>small</i> portion of the <i>Sidra Rabba</i> found in Brandt’s recently -published <i>Mandäische Schriften</i> (1895) all of the above still await -critical study and editing.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_111" href="#FNanchor_111" class="label">[111]</a> See the history of Gnostic teaching, especially that of the Ophites and -Sethians. All the evil characters in the Old Testament, with Cain at -their head, were set forth as spiritual heroes. Judas Iscariot was represented -as alone knowing the truth. I find no large account of the serpent -in the Sabean system; this may be otherwise accounted for.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_112" href="#FNanchor_112" class="label">[112]</a> Gibbon.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_113" href="#FNanchor_113" class="label">[113]</a> Sale’s Koran.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_114" href="#FNanchor_114" class="label">[114]</a> Galatians i. 17.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_115" href="#FNanchor_115" class="label">[115]</a> Gal. i. 18; Acts ix. 9, 25.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_116" href="#FNanchor_116" class="label">[116]</a> Many others, including Hilary, Jerome, Theodoret and the Occumenian -commentators are stated by Rawlinson (St. Paul in Damascus and -Arabia, p. 128), to hold the same opinion. Porter, not alone of modern -writers, puts forth the same view in his “Five Years in Damascus,” and -supposes that Paul’s success was great enough to provoke the hostility of -Aretas and make him join the later persecution.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_117" href="#FNanchor_117" class="label">[117]</a> “Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia,” p. 214.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_118" href="#FNanchor_118" class="label">[118]</a> Koran, Surah vii. 71.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_119" href="#FNanchor_119" class="label">[119]</a> Desert of the Exodus, p. 50.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_120" href="#FNanchor_120" class="label">[120]</a> Acts xvii. 26.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_121" href="#FNanchor_121" class="label">[121]</a> Acts xvii. 29.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_122" href="#FNanchor_122" class="label">[122]</a> Acts xvii. 31.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_123" href="#FNanchor_123" class="label">[123]</a> Acts xvii. 25.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_124" href="#FNanchor_124" class="label">[124]</a> Acts xx. 20, 27.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_125" href="#FNanchor_125" class="label">[125]</a> Wright’s “Early Christianity in Arabia,” 1855.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_126" href="#FNanchor_126" class="label">[126]</a> Buchanan’s Christian Researches.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_127" href="#FNanchor_127" class="label">[127]</a> Wright, p. 77.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_128" href="#FNanchor_128" class="label">[128]</a> The latest version of his life is by Nöldeke in his “Sketches from -Eastern History.” (London, 1892.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_129" href="#FNanchor_129" class="label">[129]</a> Wright, p. 144.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_130" href="#FNanchor_130" class="label">[130]</a> Kurtz’ “Church History,” Vol. I., p. 386.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_131" href="#FNanchor_131" class="label">[131]</a> See however, <i>Christianity in China, Tartary and Tibet</i>, by Abbe Huc, -Vol. I., p. 88 (New York, 1857). He speaks of Christians in Nejran as -late as the tenth century.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_132" href="#FNanchor_132" class="label">[132]</a> See Smith’s “Short History of Missions.” Peroquet, Vie de Raymund -Lull (1667). Low de Vita Ray. Lull (Halle, 1830). Helfferich Raymund -Lull (Berlin, 1858). Dublin <i>Univ. Mag.</i>, Vol. LXXVIII., p. 43, -“His Life and Work.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_133" href="#FNanchor_133" class="label">[133]</a> O merciful God, who hast made all men, and hatest nothing that Thou -hast made, nor wouldest the death of a sinner, but rather that he should -be converted and live: have mercy upon all Jews, <i>Turks</i>, Infidels, and -Heretics, and take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt -of Thy Word, and so fetch them home, blessed Lord, to Thy flock, -that they may be saved among the remnant of the true Israelites, and be -made one fold under one Shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and -reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. -Amen.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_134" href="#FNanchor_134" class="label">[134]</a> “Life of Henry Martyn,” by George Smith, C. I. E., LL. D., (1892) -p. 226.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_135" href="#FNanchor_135" class="label">[135]</a> Journal of Mr. Anthony N. Groves, Missionary to and at Bagdad. -(London, 1831.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_136" href="#FNanchor_136" class="label">[136]</a> George Smith’s Life of Martyn, p. 563.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_137" href="#FNanchor_137" class="label">[137]</a> In 1876, after the death of Dr. Wilson, Mr. and Mrs. Stothert of the -Free Church Mission arranged to take a trip up the Persian Gulf as far as -Bagdad. They were deeply impressed by the spiritual needs of the whole -of Eastern Arabia. On the way they sold Scriptures and on their return -called attention to the needs of Bagdad. For twenty-five years special -prayer was offered for Eastern Arabia every Monday by these two missionaries!</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_138" href="#FNanchor_138" class="label">[138]</a> <i>Church Missionary Intelligencer</i> for May and June, 1887.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_139" href="#FNanchor_139" class="label">[139]</a> The General also published an account of his journey in Yemen from -a geographical standpoint in the <i>Geographical Journal</i>, Vol. IX., p. 479. -See also <i>The Missionary Review of the World</i>, October, 1895.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_140" href="#FNanchor_140" class="label">[140]</a> “The Missionary Expansion since the Reformation.”—Graham, p. 19. -“Life and Letters of Rev. A. Stern.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_141" href="#FNanchor_141" class="label">[141]</a> On Van Tassel’s work and experiences see “North Africa” (21 Linton -Road, Barking, London), Vol. for 1890, pp. 4, 21, 43, 59, 78; Vol -for 1891, pp. 2, 14, 27, 31 and 50.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_142" href="#FNanchor_142" class="label">[142]</a> Mackay of Uganda, by his sister, (New York, 1897) pp. 417-430 -gives the article in full.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_143" href="#FNanchor_143" class="label">[143]</a> The text of this resolution is quoted at the head of chapter thirty-five.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_144" href="#FNanchor_144" class="label">[144]</a> See “Memorials of the Hon. Ion Keith Falconer.”—Robert Sinker -(6th Edition Cambridge 1890) and Ion Keith Falconer, Pioneer in Arabia -by Rev. A. T. Pierson, D. D. (Oct. 1897, <i>Missionary Review of the World</i>).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_145" href="#FNanchor_145" class="label">[145]</a> Kalilah and Dimnah, or The Fables of Bidpai, by I. G. N. Keith -Falconer, Cambridge, 1885.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_146" href="#FNanchor_146" class="label">[146]</a> Life and Correspondence of T. V. French, First Bishop of Lahore, by -Rev. Robert Birks, (Murray, London, 1895). 2 vols.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_147" href="#FNanchor_147" class="label">[147]</a> The letters appeared in the <i>Church Missionary Intelligencer</i>, for May -and July, 1891.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_148" href="#FNanchor_148" class="label">[148]</a> An able plea for the acceptance of the Mission by the Church was -made by Rev. J. A. Davis, in the <i>Christian Intelligencer</i>, N. Y., September -18, 1889.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_149" href="#FNanchor_149" class="label">[149]</a> This meeting with General Haig was described by him in an account -in the London <i>Christian</i> (June, 1891).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_150" href="#FNanchor_150" class="label">[150]</a> The Mohammedan Missionary Problem.—H. H. Jessup, D.D., 1879.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_151" href="#FNanchor_151" class="label">[151]</a> Vol. II., pp. 503-529.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_152" href="#FNanchor_152" class="label">[152]</a> Notes on Islam: A Hand-book for Missionaries.—Rev. Arthur Brinckman. -London, 1868.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_153" href="#FNanchor_153" class="label">[153]</a> Reprinted in “North Africa” (April, 1892), under the title: <i>Preaching, -not Controversy</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_154" href="#FNanchor_154" class="label">[154]</a> History of the Church Missionary Society, Vol. II., p. 155.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_155" href="#FNanchor_155" class="label">[155]</a> The Mohammedan Controversy and other articles—Sir Wm. Muir, -Edinburgh, 1897.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_156" href="#FNanchor_156" class="label">[156]</a> <i>Missionary Review</i>, October, 1893, p. 727, in article by “C. H.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_157" href="#FNanchor_157" class="label">[157]</a> Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race, by E. W. Blyden, London, -1888.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_158" href="#FNanchor_158" class="label">[158]</a> Missions in Sumatra, Dr. A. Schreiber, “North Africa,” May, 1896.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_159" href="#FNanchor_159" class="label">[159]</a> Gen. xii. 3, xviii. 8, xxii. 18, xxvi. 4, xxviii. 14; Num. xiv. 21; -Forty-three of the Psalms; Isaiah ii. 2, 18, etc., etc.; Jeremiah iii. 17; -Dan. vii. 13, 14; Joel ii. 28; Jonah, iii., iv.; Micah v. 4; Hab. ii. 14; -Zeph. ii. 11; Hag. ii. 6, 7; Zech. ix. 10, xiv. 9; Mal. i. 11.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_160" href="#FNanchor_160" class="label">[160]</a> See Isaiah xxxv. 1-3, xl. 3, xli. 19, xliii. 19, li. 3; Ezekiel xxxiv. 25, -xlvii. 8; Ps. lxxii. 9, etc.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_161" href="#FNanchor_161" class="label">[161]</a> According to Gesenius this is Suez, while Keil identifies it with Jifar, -a site in the northwestern part of Arabia near Egypt.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_162" href="#FNanchor_162" class="label">[162]</a> Compare Rom. iv. 11, and Gal. iii. 17.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_163" href="#FNanchor_163" class="label">[163]</a> Gen. xxi. 9-22.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_164" href="#FNanchor_164" class="label">[164]</a> Gen. xxv. 11-18, and 1 Chron. i. 28.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_165" href="#FNanchor_165" class="label">[165]</a> Isaiah xxi. 13-17 and Jer. xlix. 28-33.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_166" href="#FNanchor_166" class="label">[166]</a> See Smith’s Bible Dictionary.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_167" href="#FNanchor_167" class="label">[167]</a> Cf. Exodus xxiii. 31 and Deut. xi. 24.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_168" href="#FNanchor_168" class="label">[168]</a> <i>The Christian Intelligencer</i> (N. Y.), March 15, 1899.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_169" href="#FNanchor_169" class="label">[169]</a> Consult Bibliographies of Palestine and Syria with inference to Nomad life; also -D. Islam.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_170" href="#FNanchor_170" class="label">[170]</a> Consult also list in Gilman’s Saracens.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_171" href="#FNanchor_171" class="label">[171]</a> Consult British and Foreign Bible Society Reports for account of Scripture circulation; -the <i>Free Church of Scotland Monthly</i> for reports of Keith Falconer Mission; -the <i>Church Missionary Intelligencer</i>, 1887, vol. xii., pp. 215, 273, 346, 408; <i>Missionary -Review of the World</i>, 1892-1899, October numbers, and <i>Record of the American -Bible Society</i>, 1898-1900.</p> - -</div> - - - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Arabia: The Cradle of Islam, by S. M. 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