Treasures of the East/Transjordania, Arabia

TRANS JORDANIA

Lying just east of the Jordan river, only a few miles from Jerusalem, is the new Arabian kingdom, Transjordania. Omman is the capital, five hours ride from Jerusalem, and located on the Hijjaz-Damascus Railroad line. Its inhabitants, of course, are Arabs.

The Arab rides in from the desert, smokes his Narghile, drinks his black coffee, and gallops back into the void. As the season changes, he folds his tents and moves with his herds of camels, sheep, and goats to other localities where he can find green spots for grazing.

Every one in the desert carries a rifle. Everybody is his own policeman.

Tue Aras Wortp

The Arab world is vast, stretching from the Arabian Peninsula on the east, and across all of north Africa to the Atlantic. Once it was united under the Saracens, now it is divided into many tribes; but fundamentally they have the [Page 110]110 TREASURES OF THE EAST

bonds of race, language, and religion. Briefly speaking, all Arabian kings, Amirs, princes, or chiefs are from Mecca, ex- cept central Arabia, ‘the land of Nejd which is ruled by

• Abdu'l’ Aziz, Ibn Saud, the present ralee of the Wahabis.

King Hussein is the Sheriff or Guardian of Mecca in Hijjaz, his second son, Amir “Abdullah, is the ruler of Transjordania, and King Feisal, the third son, is the Ruler of Baghdad in "Iraq. Of course, since the end of the great war, all these kingdoms have come under English control.

THE ARraABs

The Arabs as a race are of middle stature, of a powerful though slender build, and have a skin of a brownish color, but which, in towns and uplands, is often almost white. Their features are well cut, the nose straight, the forehead high, the eyes,—well, bring me even the most humble Arabian girl, and I will show you how those large, lustrous, longlashed, black or brown eyes talk.

The Arabs are naturally active, intelligent, and courteous; their character is marked by temperance, bravery, and great hospitality. The desert air is extremely dry and clear, always invigorating, and even the great heat in summer is not so distressing as in damper climates where the thermometer is probably lower. Climate has, without doubt, a great ef: fect. The nervous, restless, high temperament of the Arab is to a great extent the creation of his environment of desert with its splendid mirages to fire the imagination and its supply of air to keep the nerves always alert.

Bepawi Arass’ JUSTICE The following astounding, shocking, and heart-rending story portrays to the Occidental mind a vivid picture of the degree of justice and the principles of honor still upheld by the dwellers of the Arabian desert. [Page 111]TREASURES OF THE EAST 111

In the scutheast regions of Baghdad, that portion of the Arabian desert near the Persian Gulf, the Dhafir tribes had their camps. Hammood Ibn Swait was the Shaykh of the tribe, one of the most renowned chiefs of Arabia. He was fifty when this story happened at the end of the great war, an advanced age among the dwellers of the desert who seldom die a natural death. He was tall and broad shouldered. His

Arabia — The Shaykhs in the Tent Sipping Coffee and Smoking the Narghile — Water-pipe :

hawk-like features marked him as a leader. His robes were simple, like that worn by the ordinary Bedawi.

Once he returned to the camp, mounted on one of Arabia’s best horses, with a company of his warriors. His face was shadowed with grief and his men were depressed.

One of his guests asked, “What is wrong with you, Shaykh Hammood?” His strong face became convulsed and tears ran down’his cheeks. He tried to speak, but speech failed him. He motioned toward his tent. Surely something [Page 112]112 TREASURES OF THE EAST

worse than death must have happened. Death is far too ordinary an event to stir an Arab so profoundly.

The camp lay in a hollow about a mile long and a half mile wide in a vast plain, a kind of oasis without trees, common to the Arabian desert.

Hammood led the way in silence to his reception tent. It was a large eight-poled tent. The floor was covered with rugs. He and other Shaykhs and guests seated themselves cross-legged, forming a circle.

Within the circle was a primitive fireplace, and on the hearth stood several copper coffeepots, tended by a tall husky slave. After all were served with coffee, dates, and milk, Hammood asked to be excused and withdrew to his family tent near by.

Hammood was the father of many children, but through the struggle of desert life he had lost fifteen sons. There was left only Jalan, a young man of twenty-five. Hammood was very proud and fond of him and naturally expected him to succeed as the ruler and Shaykh of the tribe.

Until the withdrawal of Hammood from the tent, no one had spoken. It is easy for one to wait if he knows the Arab custom of talking about anything but one’s real business until the way to it is paved. So all had to wait. Finally, Ahmad of Tawwaf, cousin of the Shaykh, brought up the matter that all had on their minds. Ahmad was a handsome man under thirty and strong as a lion.

In a sad voice he told the story of the tragic event that had plunged the tribe into gloom. It concerned Jalan and Faraj, son of Rizk, a boy of fourteen, who was admired by every member of the tribe for his amazing courage and counted as the best hero among the youth. But he had a - fiercely independent nature, sensitive pride, and unbending will. [Page 113]TREASURES OF THE EAST 113

One day Faraj and Ahmad had joined a party of twentyfour fighting men of whom Jalan, Shaykh Hammood’s son, was the leader to raid the Mutair, the hereditary enemies of the tribe. The Mutair territory is south, at least fifty hours’ ride distant. They had to travel in the night, and the journey required five nights.

The party set out soon after nightfall. When they arrived near the Hafar Wells on the fourth night out, they were short of water and they had to get it at any cost. But an enemy scout was watching the wells.

“Our lives depended upon our obtaining water before going any farther,” continued Ahmad. “I had to find and kill the enemy scout, or he would warn his people and we should fall into trap. We had only about two hours before dawn. There was no moon. With Jalan’s permission I went on to the Wells. I crawled on my hands and knees and saw the enemy scout. I crawled the fifty yards that lay between us. I saw him move, and stood up. I had wished to crawl up and surprise him, but it was too late. One of us must die within the next few minutes. Since he had not seen me, I might still be able to prevent him from firing to warn his tribe.

“My man stretched himself and looked around, but did not see me. He laid his rifle on the ground and walked up and down across my front. It was still dark, but I was able to follow his movements against the skyline. I was within two paces of the spot where his rifle lay. As he passed me, I sprang on him from behind, forced his head back toward me and plunged my dagger into his throat. May Allah have mercy on him! This was the fifth man of the Mutair to pay the penalty since my father was killed by them a year ago.”

His party, Ahmad went on to explain, had watered their camels, filled their goatskins and ridden off to a spot out of [Page 114]114 TREASURES OF THE EAST

sight of the Wells, and an hour before dawn they had halted.

“The encampment began to stir,” continued Ahmad. “Dogs were barking. The camels were rising to look around for food. A man stood outside one of the tents, rubbing himself. He turned and went in again. At a word from Jalan, we ran down the slope, shouting the war cry of our tribe. We surrounded the tents and called on the Mutair to surrender. The man who had been seen outside his tent rushed out with his rifle. We shot him down instantly. The rest of the men, about thirty, surrendered. The women and children were driven out from the tents and made to join their men. We saddled the camels, placed everything we could in the saddlebags and departed. Soon the Mutair and their allied tribes were in pursuit, but our rifles were better than theirs. Some of our men succeeded in surrounding them from the rear. We mowed down many of them, one by one, and they had to give up.

‘Each of our men was riding on a “Dahlul’ (riding camel), and Faraj, I noticed, had the best camel. He had won the famous ‘Nada’, known throughout central Arabia for beauty, speed and endurance.

“We were riding through the Wells regions. Jalan was in front. His brown camel was striding out gaily, making the pace hot for us. Just behind him rode Mohran, his slave.

‘Faraj in high spirits was dashing up and down showing off his capture. Once he went on in front past Jalan, who up to that minute did not seem to have noticed that the famous Nada was among the trophies. He now watched her as she dashed past him, leaving him behind as if he were mounted upon an old donkey. On she sped ahead of the caravan, circled gracefully, and came back like the wind, while the small figure, Faraj, balanced lightly in the saddle [Page 115]TREASURES (OF THE EAST 115

with arms waving and seemed like a bold ‘Jinn’ (Dare Devil), careless of the animal’s life and also of the laws laid down by men.

“Jalan brought his camel to a walk. Would he treat the boy’s audacity as a prank or punish him for disrespect? No older man would have dared to pass in front of our chief. Presently we saw Mohran ride alongside Jalan and then swing around at a trot to the rear. He returned with Faraj, flushed with pride and excitement, but evidently unconscious of having given offense. I was afraid. My companions closed up quickly to intercede for the boy if possible. Faraj had now come alongside Jalan and waited for him to speak. Jalan shouted in anger, “Get off that camel and exchange with Mohran’.

“Every Arab is taught from childhood that he is equal to all other men. If requested to do so, the boy would have given up his mount without a word; but to be ordered to exchange his camel with a slave was an insult. The boy was as fierce as Jalan. He was quick to resent the humiliation.

“This camel is mine by right, and I shall keep it’, he answered haughtily. “You can kill me if you like, but you will not get it otherwise’.

“Jalan acted with the speed of lightning. Before we could say a word in protest, he had drawn his pistol and shot the boy through the heart. Without a cry Faraj swayed in the saddle and fell. Jalan, as swift in remorse as in anger, jumped off his camel, received him in his arms, and laid him on the ground.

“We were horrified. Jalan, prostrate and clasping the boy to his heart, was sobbing violently. He remained thus the whole day, and we retired to leave him alone with his grief. Toward nightfall he came to us. We stood up to receive him and were silent. [Page 116]116 TREASURES OF THE EAST

‘After a few minutes he said in a quiet, sad voice, ‘My dear brothers, it has been my ill fate to kill without cause one of the best and bravest among us, and I am no longer fit to live. I cannot face Faraj’s father in this life, nor can I look my tribal brothers in the face again. Go back to our encampment, tell my father what I have done, and say that I shall return in three days to pay the penalty. May Allah give him strength to support this trial. Leave the boy with me. Tell his parents that even they could not be more tender than I shall be in putting his body to rest.’ He then withdrew without another word. We proceeded on our way, meditating on the strange decree of ‘Kismet’, fate. Mohran remained with his master.”

When the party arrived in camp, Shaykh Hammood was away. A messenger was sent to him immediately. Ahmad broke the news to Rizk. Although he was stunned, his face had lighted with pride at the part his boy had played. Allah had willed it. Not a word did he say against Jalan, but the next morning the ground on which his tent had stood was bare. He had left during the night to wander through the desert. He could not remain where he was gravely wronged, nor could he reproach the man who had given him shelter and on whose bounty he lived.

“Shaykh Hammood returned yesterday,’ Ahmad resumed. ‘‘He is overcome with grief. Jalan will come during the night. There is only one end. Jalan must pay with his life. To live is dishonor. He must die before daybreak tomorrow. He is not permitted to take his own life. He must die by his father’s hand.”

As the call for the evening dinner was sounded, Ahmad ceased to speak. Hammood asked to be excused. The guests pretended they were eating, and the food was taken away almost untouched. [Page 117]TREASURES OF THE EAST 117

Everybody retired to the tents, but who could go to sleep when such an unforgettable drama would soon be enacted near the tents. Nothing could prevent the tragedy. There was no way out with honor. There was no moon, but the stars shown brightly. The hours rolled by; the stars disappeared one by one. The eastern horizon began to show a faint light. Brighter and brighter it grew. Everybody wondered if, after all, Shaykh Hammood would have the courage needed for his awful act of justice. Justthenthe sharp report of a revolver was heard and the tragedy was over. All ran out and beheld a scene that can never be forgotten. There was Shaykh Hammood, clothed in his princely, ceremonial robes. His face bore not the slightest trace of emotion. He looked as he was, a chieftain administering justice. Through his open cloak showed the jeweled hilt of his dagger. A revolver was in his hand. Before him lay his only son, shot dead through the heart. Jalan had died in the same manner as the boy, Faraj. Such is Arab justice.

Another way of settling a murder case is as follows: If one Arab kills another, the family of the deceased go to the Shaykh of the tribe. The Shaykh finds the murderer and takes him to the camp of the dead man’s family and says to them, “This is the man who killed your relative. You have got him now, you can do what you please with him.”

Usually the reply is, “May God forgive him, we know it.’ The blood money question is then agreed upon—$2,000 to $3,000 cash and the remainder, whatever that may be, in camels and slaves. Sometimes this is refused. In this case

the murderer is sure to be slain. [Page 118]118 TREASURES OF THE EAST

WoMEN OF THE DESERT

Their romance, flirtation, nagging, laws, and liberty are unknown in the western countries.

Srory OF THE WIFE OF A YOUNG ARABIAN SHAYKH.

One morning Shaykh Mitkhal of the Beni Sakhr Tribe sat in a “Divan” (council meeting for trial) like a sultan to administer justice by old desert laws. The dispute was an intimate family matter, involving the domestic relations of his own nephew and niece; yet all who had ears to hear were summoned to the great tent. The nephew, Jerid, a boy of twenty but already an important minor Shaykh in the tribegroup with his own encampment and fifty warriors, had married a girl of the tribe of El-Khour, by name Thorayya, two years before. She had borne him one child and now was again to bea mother. This Thorayya, it was said, had been insisting that her husband should take another wife, and Jerid had stubbornly refused. After quarreling and even threatening to separate, they had agreed to submit their difference to Shaykh Mitkhal for adjustment.

The party arrived soon after eight o'clock, Jerid with twenty of his men on horseback, and Thorayya on a white camel, accompanied by her old colored maid on a donkey. The young wife wore a mantle of heavy crimson Baghdad silk. Broad silver bracelets circled her arms, and gold coins were braided in her hair. Her boots were of red Damascus leather with blue silk tassels. She was rather pretty but thin, hawk-nosed, and with flashing, restless eyes—she was obviously high-tempered. She and her maid disappeared into the women’s tent.

Shaykh Mitkhal and Jerid sat side by side, and the war riors sat crossed-legged in a great open circle shoulder to shoulder, and others stood just outside. The old and the [Page 119]TREASURES OF THE EAST 119

young Shaykhs talked about everything else, but not a word did either of them mention of the dispute.

Mansur, the slave of the Shaykh, now brought from the women’s tent a small rug and pink silk cushions with which he arranged a small couch near the center of the circle facing Shaykh Mitkhal. Then he placed a special rug beside it for Jerid. Thorayya came in and sat on the couch. Jerid left his place beside the Shaykh, but ignored the rug that had been laid for him and sat on the sand. Some forty women stood outside the tent where they could hear. Mansur, sitting at the Shaykh’s feet tapped sharply three times in the sand with a camel-stick, and the “Divan” (trial) began.

“Wilt thou speak first, O Jerid?” asked Shaykh Mitkhal. “La-Wallah! (No, by God!),” replied Jerid. “For I am content.” He began to roll a cigarette.

“Wilt thou speak then, O Thorayya, or wilt thou have another to speak for thee?”

“T will speak, O my uncle,” she answered and began rather calmly. But she soon became excited and poured out such a stream of words, giving reasons for her insistence that Jerid should add a second wife to the household.

In the first place she objected to bearing many children, although the wealth and strength of the dwellers of the desert lies in the man-power even more than in their flocks, and every Bedawi father wants to have as many sons as he can. A man can beget thirty or even forty children with joy, but a woman who is compelled to bear and rear them “carries an endless burden”, loses her youth and beauty, and grows quickly old. Poverty compels the wife of a poorer Bedawi to endure anything. But the wife of a young Shaykh, particularly if she is beautiful, prefers to bear two or three children and no more, retaining her figure and youth, and letting other wives share in childbearing. [Page 120]120 TREASURES OF THE EAST

Thorayya complained also that life was stupid with only a maid in her tent. She wanted the companionship of a second wife, an equal. The unmarried Arabian girl is aston ishingly free. But once married she has more limited social contacts. Even her husband spends most of his time in the coffee circle from which women are excluded. Furthermore, Thorayya held it was “undignified” and “unnatural” for one wife to be saddled with all the responsibilities of a Shaykhly tent. Every Shaykh keeps continual open house. Ten or twenty guests may drop in unexpectedly for dinner. No matter how many servants there are in the house, certain duties devolve on the wife in the desert. Thorayya, with one baby in her arms and another soon coming, insisted that it was high time for her husband to show decent consideration and marry a second wife.

She pleaded at great length, being t the aggrieved party. Jerid replied with few words. He intended to take a second wife in due time, but he was tired of being nagged on the subject.

Shaykh Mitkhal puffed placidly at his Narghile, pondered and gave judgment. “Every man,” he said, “wants many sons if it is the will of Allah, but it is not good for a Shaykh’s wife to bear burdens like a camel all her life. Yet a complaining and discontented wife is also a heavy burden, and if one wife fills the household with discordant quarreling, how shall the husband wish to take another? Let Jerid and Thorayya return to their tent in peace, and let her reproaches cease. And at the end of Ramadan (month of fasting), next spring when we are returned from the south, Jerid shall take a second wife. I have spoken.”

Mansur tapped thrice with the camel-stick to announce that the Divan was adjourned. [Page 121]TREASURES OF THE EAST 121

ARABIAN ROMANCE

The Bedawi leads a very chivalrous and romantic life. When a man wishes to marry he goes to his sweetheart’s camp and sings to her, in many cases his own verses. If she likes him, she sings to him too. Then, if the girl’s family approves, there isa marriage. But occasionally there are elopements.

The Bedawis marry more than one wife if they can afford it, and the wives live on good terms. But the first wife usually remains the mistress of the house.

The freedom of the girl is based on the laws of the desert: All responsibility in pre-marriage contact between the sexes rests on the shoulders of the male. If an unmarried girl is seduced, she is not punished; but the guilty man is and may lose his life. Ifa married woman is guilty of infidelity, however, the law is different. She is divorced and sent under escort as a prisoner to her own family, usually her parents or brother. The men in her family sit as judges. If she is found guilty, she is immediately dragged outside the tent to have her throat cut. On the other hand, if a man spreads falsely an evil report about a woman’s virtue, he is slain by the tribe.

A Bedawi marriage is rather a civil contract. After the agreement has been signed before witnesses in the tents of the parents, the bride herself, decked out in a red or blue robe, with gold or silver bracelets and anklets, and with gold coins braided in her hair, mounts on the rump of the bridegroom’s horse or camel, and they go for a ride among the tents. Their bridal chamber for a month consists of a small booth, its inner and outer walls gaily hung with rugs and tapestries, and is pitched either next to the husband’s tent or a few yards from it.

The marriage price, which may be much or little, is paid [Page 122]122 TREASURES OF THE EAST

to the bride’s father by the bridegroom. He may divorce her at any time, but she, too, can leave him at any time she pleases if she is ill treated. No one can compel her to return. If he can show or prove, however, that she left him without just cause, the marriage price may be returned to him.

Love affairs, marriage matches, and freedom of choice on the girl’s part are common among the Dwellers of the Desert. For example: Shaykh Mitkhal’s rich old father, after his beard was turning gray, sought in marriage the hand of the pretty, fifteen year old daughter of his poorest tribesman. The little girl, already in love with a youth of twenty, replied, “The honor is too great for an humble girl like me. You are asking me to wear a robe in which are woven too many silver threads.” He was disappointed but not angry, and the girl’s father did not force her, although the marriage would have brought him many camels.